


Longmire with Cora

by stormsiren



Category: Longmire (TV)
Genre: American Indians, Cowboys and Indians, Demonic entity, Explicit Sex, F/M, Longmire TV series, Native Americans, Original Female Character - Freeform, Rape Survivors, Supernatural Elements, explicit violence, super powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 02:59:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 57
Words: 107,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16296977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormsiren/pseuds/stormsiren
Summary: What happens when a woman with supernatural powers is inserted into the Longmire TV series universe?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Cora is my original female character, and this is my story of what happens differently in script of the Longmire TV series when she happens to exist in that universe. I don't claim ownership of any other characters, except for a few other minor characters I put in, like Lona and Elina and their parents, and this is a non-profit work of fan-fiction only.
> 
> Note that this story is written entirely in what I think is considered third-person omniscient, more or less, including all of the dialog, and is in present tense. Also note that the lack of proper capitalization at the beginning of sentences is intentional, because that's the way I felt like writing it. I also highly recommend using a text-to-speech program to have this work read to you as opposed to reading by yourself.
> 
> Also note I am considering re-writing this entire story in a more standard format. Let me know if there's any interest in the comments.

Cora is a tall and young-looking white woman, with medium length wavy dark brown hair, and hazel eyes who lives in an old camper trailer out in the woods in Absaroka county, near the border of the Cheyenne Indian reservation. Cora has both telekinetic and shape-shifting powers, and she is somewhat reclusive and an outcast who generally prefers to try and keep to herself, since other people don't tend to react so well to her, at least not in her experiences so far, and Cora came out here to the wilds of Wyoming for the sake of trying to avoid other people.

one night a young Cheyenne woman named Lona is raped by a few white guys at a party on the res. Lona gets away from the men and runs through the woods by Cora's trailer. Lona runs to the trailer when she sees it, afraid the men who raped her might still be chasing her. Lona bangs on the door of the trailer, desperate to find anyone to help her. Cora answers the door, surprised to see a half-clothed Indian girl who looks like she's been roughed up. Lona is disappointed to see the occupant of the trailer is a white person, but Lona is glad to see that it's at least another woman instead of a man. Lona begs for help and looks terrified, and Lona can barely explain what happened to her. Cora takes pity on the girl and lets her inside the trailer once she gets the gist of what might have happened to this girl, as Cora suspects the girl has been raped due to her lack of proper clothing. Lona finally calms down enough to tell Cora her name and to explain that some men are probably chasing her, and may be trying to kill her.

the men eventually find Cora's trailer on their hunt for Lona, wanting to kill her so she can't rat them out for the rape. Cora hides Lona in a closet and goes outside to face the men before they can break her flimsy trailer door down, because they are banging on it so hard she is afraid they might actually just do that. when Cora comes outside, the men question her about the Indian girl they are looking for, who they are pretty sure went by here, and they demand to search the trailer for her. Cora refuses to let them do that, and the men try to attack her, and she is forced to use her powers in self-defense. however, Cora winds up killing all three of the men by a strange crushing force. right before that happened though, Lona came out of the closet and peeked out a window to see what was happening outside. then Lona saw what happened to the men. 

Cora goes back inside to get Lona out of the closet to find she is already standing by the door with a terrified expression. Cora tells Lona not to worry about the men anymore, and she finds Lona some sweatpants for her to put on, since Lona lost hers when she was attacked, and Cora also gives her some socks, because Lona is also barefoot, and her feet are all cut up and bruised. after giving her some water and chips too, Cora lets Lona rest on her couch for a few hours. Lona thanks Cora for saving her. in the morning, Cora gets Lona into her truck and drives her to the res clinic. Cora stays at the clinic until Lona is done being seen by the nurse, in case she needs a ride home. Lona accepts a ride home from Cora, and Cora drops her off at her house.

Lona tells her parents what happened to her, and then what happened to the men who raped her after she went to Cora's trailer for help. Lona's parents believe their daughter, and they think that Cora must be an avenging spirit helper, to explain the strange things Lona said she saw in a way they can better understand. later on, Lona's father goes to Cora's trailer on his own to thank her for saving his daughter. when Cora answers the knock on her door, Lona's father introduces himself and explains why he's here, and he tries to give Cora some money as a reward, but Cora refuses to take it, saying she doesn't need it. Lona's father feels bad about not being able to repay Cora, and since she won't take any money, he offers her an old medicine bag he was carrying as a token of his thanks instead. Cora accepts the gift and tells the man not to worry about paying her back anything else, because she says they are good. after that, Lona's father goes home.

Mathias, the Cheyenne tribal police chief, and Walt Longmire, the sheriff of Absaroka county, go together to question Cora about the missing men, since all three of the missing men are white guys who were last seen on the res at a party that took place not too far away from Cora's trailer. no bodies have been found, so the case is still just a missing persons case, although Mathias and Walt both strongly suspect that something bad may have happened to the men based on what they have already been told about them. Mathias is the one who got the call from one of the guy's friends who was at the party with them, and he told Mathias where his friends were last night when they went missing, and he admits that he suspects that his friends might have committed a rape at the party. since Cora's trailer is the only home nearby that area, Mathias and Walt go there first, but they don't find any evidence against Cora, because she got rid of the bodies already. Cora lies to them by saying that she didn't see or hear anything last night, so Walt and Mathias decide they have to leave her alone for now, even though they both still suspect that Cora probably knows at least something and she just doesn't want to admit it for some reason.

******

a couple of weeks later, Lona's father has a friend on the res who's daughter, Elina, gets kidnapped by some Cheyenne drug dealers that she owed money to. Elina's parents are worried the men might be torturing their daughter as punishment for not paying them. Elina's father asks Lona's father if he can help, because he heard a rumor about how Lona's rapists were killed by an avenging spirit, and he is desperate to save his own daughter now. Lona's father says he will try to get the spirit to help again. Lona's father goes back to Cora's trailer to ask her to please rescue Elina. Cora feels bad for these people and agrees to help. Cora finds Elina and rescues her by killing all of her captors and then driving Elina home to her family. Elina is beat up, but she doesn't want to go to the res clinic. Elina's father is grateful for the return of his daughter and tries to pay Cora for the service. again Cora refuses the money, but agrees to take a sage bowl that is offered to her instead.

Cora gets questioned by Mathias again about the recent batch of murders, since this time the bodies were found, and the neighbors of the men reported seeing a white woman show up there that night. but Mathias still fails to find any real evidence against Cora. as the rumor of the avenging spirit spreads, Cora is worried that this is getting out of control, and she doesn't want her cover blown. after talking to Lona's father about the problem, Cora finds out about Hector, another vigilante on the res who is a former boxer, who never kills his victims. Cora decides to stop taking work from Hector, and the next time someone asks her to help with something, she offers them the money they need to go pay Hector to do it instead. pretty soon, more people are asking for Cora's help to pay Hector to avenge the crimes that they can't get the tribal police to solve, when they are too poor to pay anyone for their help. Cora is saddened by how much crime goes unsolved on the res without the help of vigilantes, and she wants to continue helping in some way if she can.


	2. 2

Cora decides that she will have to get a source of income to keep loaning/donating people money for Hector's services. Cora knows how she can get it too, by playing the slot machines at the new casino that very recently opened up on the res, because she knows that she can control them with her mind and force them to give her wins almost every time, so she can make a lot of money that way if she wants to. Cora starts going to the Four Arrows Casino on the res every so often to play the slot machines until she has enough winnings to stay in business for a short while. Cora tries not to abuse the slot machines too much, because she doesn't want to get caught doing anything weird with them and get kicked out of the casino.

one day Malachi Strand, the head of the casino's security department, finds Cora at one of the slot machines and asks her to come into an office to talk with him and Jacob Nighthorse, the owner of the casino. Cora is worried about this, but she goes along with it, since she doesn't want to get kicked out of the casino. the casino's computer system and the techs who monitor it have detected Cora's unusual activity involving the slot machines and how much she manages to win from them all the time, which is way above normal, and Jacob wants to know what is going on here. Jacob asks the woman for her name, and she just says it's Cora, without giving a last name. Malachi then accuses Cora of cheating and says he wants to ban her from the casino. Cora argues that she is not cheating and says that she can prove it. 

Jacob wants to see how she can prove this, because the more he knows about how people can cheat his slot machines, the better so he can find a way to prevent it from happening in the future. Cora has Jacob pick a random slot machine for her to play so she can show him it doesn't matter what machine she uses. Jacob goes ahead and picks one and Cora plays it and shows him how she can make it give her wins almost every time if she wants to. Cora doesn't do anything obviously weird with the machine, she just plays it like a normal person as far as anyone can tell. Jacob sees this and is intrigued by how this could be possible. Malachi is not amused, but Jacob sends him away.

then Jacob has Cora get up so he can play the same machine himself, and the luck for him goes right back to being like it would for anyone else, so not all that great. Cora reaches over Jacob's shoulder to push the button for him a few times while he's still sitting down at the machine himself, and it starts winning regularly again. Cora tells Jacob that she is not rigging or breaking the machine in any way, and that she just has really good luck. Jacob doesn't know how else to explain it. Cora asks if she is going to get kicked out of the casino for having too good of luck. Jacob says he doesn't want to, but that he can't let Cora wipe him out. Cora promises not to wipe him out, and she says she only takes the money she needs for some charity work on the res. 

Jacob is interested in why she would want to do charity work on the res, and he asks what kind of work it is. Cora doesn't want to give too much information since it's technically illegal, and she's afraid Jacob would try to turn her in if she told him the truth. Cora tells half the truth by saying she gives cheap loans to people and sometimes donates money to needy families who are suffering. Jacob wonders why this white woman cares about Indians so much to do that kind of thing for them, and he asks her why she does it. Cora says she was just minding her own business, but that she got sucked into it because she lives so close to the res, and that it's hard to avoid the trouble there. Cora says the trouble came to her first, and that she decided to respond to it instead of just ignoring it like an asshole. Cora says she doesn't mind helping though, when she can, and she even admits there may be some white guilt involved on her part. Jacob appreciates Cora's bluntness, but is still skeptical of her intentions, and is not sure how he wants to deal with her slot machine thing. Jacob says he won't ban her yet, but that she has to stay away from the slot machines for at least a week. Cora reluctantly agrees, not sure how she is going to make more money very easily if she can't use her slot machine trick anymore at the local casino.

Jacob decides to follow Cora home when she leaves the casino to see where she lives out of curiosity. Jacob wonders why Cora's truck is so old and plain looking when she should be able to afford a new one, because he thinks that she must be rich due to her ability. Jacob thinks that maybe this truck is just a cover, and she must have nicer ones stored somewhere else. Jacob follows her home secretly in his car, not wanting Cora to know he is following her. Jacob is shocked to find that someone with such an ability with slot machines lives in a tiny trailer with no access to utilities. Jacob doesn't think this is just a cover anymore, since Cora apparently does live a very poor lifestyle despite her apparent super power. 

Jacob thinks Cora must be very eccentric, and he's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet. Jacob leaves her alone for now, but he decides to dig deeper into her activities on the res by doing some research and asking around. in the process of asking around with many of the people who Jacob knows, and is liked by, on the res, Jacob learns of the legend of the avenging spirit that is credited with murdering some rapists and kidnappers. Jacob also learns that if you need money bad enough to pay Hector for something, there is a weird white lady in a little trailer just outside the res who will give you a cheap loan just for that. Jacob figures out this must be Cora, but he's not sure what the avenging spirit thing is all about, or if that's connected to her also somehow.


	3. 3

the next week, Cora is back at the casino playing the slot machines again, because she was only told to stay away for one week, and she did that. Jacob finds Cora there again, but decides not to bother her for now, and he tells Malachi to leave her alone too. Jacob decides to let Cora take some money from the slot machines, since he doesn't mind all that much now that he knows what she's using it for, which is apparently not on herself, but for members of his tribe who are in serious trouble, and who can't get the help they need from the tribal police like they are supposed to be able to. Jacob agrees that Hector is good for his people, at least until they can get a better justice system in place somehow, because as far as he's concerned, vigilante justice is better than none. plus there was a time not too long ago when Jacob even worked with Hector himself in order to rescue some Cheyenne children who had been illegally taken from their rightful families on the res by a corrupt foster care group home. 

Malachi however, doesn't like that Jacob is letting Cora continue to play the slot machines at the casino and technically steal money from them. Malachi also doesn't like Cora because he thinks she is some kind of witch or something with evil powers, plus she is white, and just about as white as white can get at that, because her skin is so pale. Jacob tells Malachi to leave her alone and that he will deal with her himself as required. Malachi still tries to argue, but Jacob says they have no legal basis to ban her from the casino just because she is lucky, and that she is not trying to clean them out anyway, but he doesn't tell Malachi what he found out about Cora.

Cora cuts down on the number of days per week she comes into the casino to get money out of the slot machines, because she can tell Malachi is always watching her. Cora figures out it must be Jacob who is letting her continue to play the slot machines, because she can tell Malachi hates her, but seems unable to act against her, and she knows that Jacob is the owner of the casino, while Malachi is just the head of security. eventually Jacob and Malachi's relationship becomes even more strained when Jacob refuses a deal to let the Irish mob into the casino. Malachi secretly makes his own side deal with the Irish mob behind Jacob's back though. when Jacob finds out, he starts looking for proof of Malachi's criminal activities so he can do something to get rid of him. eventually Jacob becomes afraid that Malachi is going to try and take him out, so Jacob hires a separate security team for personal protection.

******

one day at the casino, a crazy drunk guy who just lost all his money goes postal and pulls out a gun to start threatening the card dealers. Cora is caught in the crowd of people near the gunman when he starts shooting. Cora is worried about the security cameras in the casino catching her doing anything weird, but she feels like she has to do something, since she can, before people start dying, plus she doesn't want the casino to get shut down over the shooting. Cora can't get through the people who are panicking over the shooting without hurting them, so Cora jumps onto a card table and leaps over some crouching people to tackle the gunman before he can get off another shot. the shooter is a pretty big guy, but Cora easily knocks him down and disarms him, and she breaks his arm and his jaw in the process. 

then Cora gets away so the casino security guards and the tribal police can deal with the shooter now that he's no longer a threat. before anyone can get to her, Cora takes advantage of the chaos and runs away from the casino to avoid being caught up in the ensuing investigation. but Cora was caught on the casino security cameras when she disabled the shooter, so Mathias shows up at her trailer to question her yet again, since he easily recognized her on the video. Cora just tells Mathias the minimal truth about what happened, hoping what she did that the camera managed to pick up doesn't look too suspicious on the video. Mathias takes her statement, and Cora asks him if anyone at the casino was killed by the shooter. Mathias says no, because luckily the only two people who got shot were not fatally wounded. Mathias tells Cora that she is responsible for saving lives at the casino, and that she is not under arrest, he just wanted her statement for his records. Cora cooperates with Mathias so he can finish his paperwork, while being glad that she isn't being arrested, and that no one was actually killed at the casino. then Mathias leaves her alone for now.

******

after that, Cora decides to stay away from the casino for the rest of the month at least, which will be about three weeks, because she doesn't want too much attention for what she did there. as a result, Cora knows she will have to cut down on the loans she can give out to people who are still needing work from Hector. one week after the shooting at the casino, Jacob comes to visit Cora at her trailer. Jacob knocks on her door, and when she answers, Cora is surprised to see that Jacob knows where she lives, and even more surprised that he would come here. Cora doesn't want to let Jacob in her trailer, so she goes outside to talk to him and see what he wants. Jacob says he wants to thank her for what she did at his casino last week, because he says people would have surely died if she hadn't stopped the shooter in time. Cora just says it was no problem, then she asks if the news of the incident has hurt his business at all. Jacob is surprised that Cora would ask that, and he says not really, because he says a lot of people seem to feel safer knowing that people like Cora are around to stop the crazy people when they pop up. Jacob goes on to explain that the news about the shooting is more about how the shooting was stopped, and that tends to make his casino more famous now than notorious.

Cora says she is glad to hear that, but also that she doesn't want to become a celebrity over it, because she says she cherishes her privacy. Jacob says Cora is lucky she lives way out here then, because he says otherwise he is sure all the reporters would have found her by now. Cora sarcastically says great, because now she will have to stay out of public for a long while until things cool down, maybe even longer than she had already planned to. Jacob promises to keep his security footage of Cora's act of heroism out of the press, and Cora thanks him for that. Jacob also reveals that he watched the footage himself and he saw that his security guards were doing nothing to stop the shooter. Jacob says that good security guards are really hard for him to find anymore, and that he is going to have to start looking for some replacements. Cora wishes Jacob good luck with that. Jacob half-jokes that if he had a fraction of Cora's luck, then he would never want for anything. Cora says if she could give Jacob some of her luck, then she would. Cora feels thankful that Jacob didn't kick her out of the casino after he found out about her trick with the slot machines.

Jacob asks Cora if she means what she said, and that if there was a way she could help him, then would she really do it. Cora asks Jacob what he means. Jacob says he wants to give Cora a job at the casino as a new security guard. Cora is surprised and doesn't know what to say, but she asks him why. Jacob tells Cora that she is obviously qualified based on what he saw her do on the video. Jacob also says he appreciates the charity work that Cora has been doing for poor people on the res, although Jacob leaves out the fact that he knows Cora has been helping people hire Hector for vigilante work, even though he approves of that. Cora is skeptical about taking an actual job at the casino, and she says she feels like she wouldn't fit in with the other staff, hinting that she is worried because of her race. Jacob tells her that is actually a good thing that she wouldn't fit in, because he says the other security guards he has right now are half worthless anyway, so he says he doesn't want her to fit in with them.

Cora feels bad for Jacob having such a hard time finding good people to help him run the casino, plus she thinks he is kind of cute. Cora says she will think about Jacob's offer, but she admits that she is also worried it will draw too much attention to herself if she takes the job. Jacob says she should take it as a compliment if people recognize her for what she did, and that she should not be too shy about it. Cora realizes Jacob is right about her being kind of shy, which she doesn't really like about herself. Cora says she will definitely think about it, but that she needs some time to decide. Jacob says that's fine, and he gives her his cellphone number to call him when she has an answer. Cora takes it and agrees to do that, then Jacob asks her for her number so he can see when she calls. Cora gives it to him, then Jacob thanks her and leaves.

******

a couple of days later, Cora decides that taking the job at the casino might be a good idea so she can have a more steady income if for no other reason, without having to resort to technically stealing money from the casino by abusing Jacob's slot machines. Cora thinks at least this way she is doing something to earn the money instead of being a freeloader. Cora calls Jacob on his cellphone as promised, and he picks up right away when he sees her number calling. Jacob is happy to hear her calling so soon, and says he wants to know if she thought about his job offer, because he says he still wants her if she will accept it. 

Cora asks Jacob to tell her honestly if he is going to take any heat for hiring a white person to work at his casino. Jacob is surprised by that question, although he silently admits to himself it's a good question, but he says not to worry about that, because he says there are always going to be some racist people around, but he says you can't let them decide your fate. Cora says she agrees with that logic, but that it can still be hard. Jacob agrees and asks Cora to think about what it's like for Indians who have to go to work for white-dominated businesses when they can't get any good jobs on the res. Cora agrees and apologizes for acting like a victim there for a minute, but she says she just doesn't want to upset the apple-cart. Jacob says when the apple-cart is full of rotten apples, then it's time to dump it. Cora laughs at Jacob's wise joke and says she can't argue with that. Jacob says good, and asks her if that means she will accept the job he wants to give her.

Cora asks if she will have to work with Malachi at the casino, because she says that could also be a problem, and Cora doesn't feel the need to explain the reason why. Jacob says not really, because he says she will not be answering to Malachi, and that Cora will only answer directly to himself. Jacob explains he wants to hire Cora as an independent guard, not as a member of any of his other security teams he already has working for him. Cora asks what she will be doing exactly then. Jacob doesn't tell Cora that he might want to use her as a personal bodyguard just yet, because he wants to vet her out some more first. Jacob says she will start with simply patrolling the casino and looking for any suspicious activity, which he says will include other employees as well as patrons. Cora warns Jacob that she is not good at ratting people out for things like taking extra breaks or whatever. Jacob says no, and says he only wants her to look for serious problems, because he says petty stuff like that is for the managers and supervisors to deal with. 

Cora is quiet for a minute while she thinks about it. Jacob asks her if she's still there. Cora says yes, and that she will go ahead and at least try it out if Jacob really wants her to. Jacob is happy to hear this, and says he wants her to start on Monday. Cora says she will be there then, and thanks Jacob for the opportunity. Jacob says it's no problem and that he looks forward to seeing her again. after they hang up, Cora wonders how this is really going to work out, but she wants to give Jacob a fair chance, even though she knows this could turn out badly. plus Cora could sense a bit of desperation in Jacob, and she wonders if he has got other things going on that he isn't telling her about. Cora decides that there is only one way to find out.


	4. 4

once Cora starts her job at the casino, she is really happy with the salary Jacob gave her, and she does what she was hired to do. Cora starts looking around closely for any problems she can find like Jacob wants her to. Malachi tries to avoid her, but Cora starts watching him, and sneaking up on him to listen in on his conversations, and she wonders if he knows how it feels now to have someone do that to him, and how much he likes it. because of Cora's scrutiny of him, which Malachi can tell she is doing, Malachi starts to worry that she will find out about the Irish mob's prostitutes he has working out of the casino's hotel, along with Malachi's loan-sharking operation, which he has had his top henchman, Darius Burns, running out of the casino's men's room for him. 

Malachi decides Cora must be taken out to protect himself and his side business, plus he wants to punish her and Jacob for being too white by his standards. Malachi sends Darius to follow her home and try to murder her, but Darius didn't know what he was dealing with. Cora didn't kill Darius, but she beat him up pretty badly, and she disintegrated the pistol he tried to shoot her with right in front of him. after barely surviving the encounter, Darius tells Malachi what happened, while Cora tells Jacob more or less what happened, although she is careful to leave the weirder details out of her description of what happened between her and Darius. Malachi lets Darius keep working for him doing odd jobs as needed, but Darius's days as a loan-shark are over.

Jacob is genuinely shocked to learn that Malachi would send Darius after Cora like that, and he apologizes to her for putting her in that kind of danger, because he really didn't mean to. Cora says it's ok because she is fine, and that Darius is not so much, because even though she let him live, he should be pretty scarred by the encounter. Cora asks Jacob if he thinks Malachi will learn his lesson by this, or if she should take a more proactive stance against Malachi and his thugs. Jacob is honest with Cora and says Malachi doesn't give up that easily, even if it means going up against someone like Cora, but Jacob is reluctant to tell her to go on the offensive for him. Jacob says he would understand if Cora doesn't want to get involved in his struggle with Malachi any further, but he really hopes that she won't leave. Jacob is afraid of being left all alone to deal with Malachi by himself, and he doesn't know who else he can really trust anymore. Jacob gets the sense that maybe he could trust Cora, and having her kind of help would be a boon to him, but he also wants to be fair to her. Jacob says he has another position that Cora could take at another one of his businesses to get away from Malachi if she wants it.

Cora says she would prefer to be where she can do the most good, and that if Malachi is such a danger, then it's probably better for her to help with that problem first. but Cora quickly adds that it's up to Jacob where he wants to put her, and she says she will accept whatever post he wants to assign to her. Jacob feels bad about involving Cora with Malachi, because he probably should have known something like this would happen, but he silently asks himself what else could he do. Jacob is however very glad to know that Cora is apparently strong enough to deal with this level of threat without getting hurt. Jacob also doesn't have anyone else who can help him with the problem of Malachi, because the sheriff hates him, and Mathias is half useless as a cop even on his best days, as far as Jacob is concerned. Jacob says Cora can stay at the casino for now if she really wants to. Cora thanks him for that, and says she will do her best to deal with whatever comes up. Jacob says he appreciates that, and that whatever counts as her best is probably going to be overkill knowing her. Cora promises to use as much finesse as possible if she has any further encounters with Malachi or his goons. Jacob says that is good, and he trusts her judgment based on the fact that she didn't kill Darius when he knows that she easily could have.


	5. 5

after that, things calm down a bit with Malachi, for a short time at least, because since what happen to Darius, Malachi had to shut down his loan-sharking operation at the casino, and there's no one else to take it over right now, since everyone Malachi knows on the res is too scared by the stories of the White Demon that are now being told as legends. however, Malachi continues to let the Irish mob's prostitutes work out of the casino hotel, and Malachi also starts letting the Irish mob sell heroin on the res via Malachi's own dealers, in order to make up for the loss of profits from the lost loan-sharking business. another thing Malachi does, just to try and stir up whatever trouble he can muster for Jacob and Cora, is he calls sheriff Longmire to meet him in the office of the Red Pony to share some information with him.

******

Malachi now owns the Red Pony bar, thanks to a deal that the former owner of the bar, Henry Standing Bear, made with him, which turned out to be a bad deal for Henry. Henry blackmailed Malachi into giving him some information about Darius's whereabouts around a certain time, back when Walt still suspected Darius of being involved in his wife Martha's murder, and also of killing Miller Beck, the man who stabbed Martha to death, since Henry is actually Walt's best friend. fortunately for Malachi, it turned out that Darius was involved in neither of those things, so the information that he truthfully gave to Henry about Darius amounted to nothing, and Henry decided to honor his deal anyway by signing the ownership of his bar over to Malachi, although Malachi still keeps Henry around as an employee of the bar.

******

when Walt comes over to the Red Pony to see what Malachi wants, Malachi shows him a copy he made of the security footage from the casino of when Cora leapt over a card table to attack the shooter that was there, to disarm him, and he tells Walt that she broke at least two of the guy's bones in the process. Walt is surprised to see and hear about this, because he was never brought in on that case, since it happened on the res, and Mathias took care of it himself by turning the shooter over to the feds, and Cora was never charged with anything. plus Walt never pays any attention to the news unless someone tells him to do so for some specific reason, and no one did that in this case, because there was no obvious reason to.

Walt asks Malachi to play the video again for him, and Malachi does. Walt watches the video more closely the second time, and he is pretty surprised by this woman's agility and apparent strength, and he asks Malachi why he is showing him this. Malachi says because this woman, whose name is Cora, and he doesn't even know her last name, now works for Jacob as a security guard, and Malachi says she also attacked one of his own men in a similar fashion, referring to Darius, and that she nearly killed him. then Malachi produces a photo of Darius from when he was still in the hospital for Walt to see how badly he was beaten up. when Walt asks him why she did that, Malachi lies through his teeth and says because Jacob ordered her to do it, because he says Jacob knew that Darius was getting too close to finding proof of Jacob's illegal loan-sharking business that Malachi says Jacob has been running out of the men's room at the casino. when Walt looks at him suspiciously, because he is not ready to believe that either Darius or Malachi himself are somehow good guys who honestly care about fighting crime at the casino, Malachi goes on to say now that Jacob has this new enforcer, the rest of his men are too scared to continue investigating the criminal activity that Jacob has been up to, and he says that Mathias won't do anything about it either.

Walt decides to play along a little, because even though he doesn't really believe that Malachi is anywhere near as innocent as he's trying to act like he is, Walt is totally convinced that Jacob is the real mastermind behind any and all of the crime at the casino, and then some. so Walt asks Malachi what he expects him to do about this. Malachi says he doesn't really expect Walt to do anything about it right now, and he says he just wanted to give Walt a friendly heads up about Cora for the next time when Walt and Jacob wind up butting heads with each other. Walt asks Malachi if he can have a copy of that video for his own records. Malachi gladly hands Walt the thumb drive he brought with the copy of the video file on it, saying Walt can keep that. Walt takes it and puts it in his shirt pocket, and he tells Malachi to call him if he finds out any more information about Jacob's illegal activities, or Cora's for that matter too. Malachi says he will, then Walt leaves.


	6. 6

the next morning, Henry makes it back to the Red Pony, where he also lives in a private room upstairs from the bar, which is in the building's attic, and Henry goes into his bathroom to tend to a gunshot wound that he just took in the back of his thigh.

******

Henry has recently been doing some vigilante work himself, both on and off the res, ever since Hector was killed by another Indian man named David Ridges. David was a former friend and employee of Jacob's, and also the man who Barlow Connally, the father of one of Walt's deputies named Branch, had hired to murder Walt's wife, just to spite Walt for what Barlow had considered hoarding a large amount of land in Absaroka, just to keep it from being developed, and Barlow had long been obsessed with making the entire county into a fiefdom for his own family. for several years, Barlow was Jacob's secret business partner and a local developer of golf courses in Absaroka, and even though Barlow hated Jacob, along with Indians in general, he had agreed to help Jacob by loaning him money to get his casino started, because Barlow knew that the casino would draw a lot of extra tourists to the area, which would inevitably help Barlow's own business in the bargain. and even though Jacob hated Barlow just about as much as he knew Barlow hated him, Jacob had agreed to accept the loans from Barlow, because at that time Jacob was pretty desperate for any money that he could get his hands on, in order to get his casino started.

also around that time, Jacob had been both a friend and employer of David's, because David had been a White Warrior, which is the Blackfoot tribe's version of a Dog Soldier, and although David was Cheyenne, he preferred to practice traditions from many different Indian tribes. Jacob knew that David had some serious mental issues going on, but Jacob had taken pity on David and had tried to do everything he could to help the troubled man, and in return, David had become rather obsessed with Jacob in a non-antagonistic but unhealthy way, especially since Jacob was the de-facto leader of a local band of other Indian men who still regularly practiced the rituals of the dog soldiers. as a result, David would call Jacob on the phone often, sometimes several times a week to complain about his problems and try to get Jacob's advice, on both practical and spiritual matters that David was concerned about. Jacob humored David for as long as he could, and he even tried to help David fake his death by staging a fake suicide after David had done some pretty bad things that he was about to get in trouble with the sheriff for, because David had promised him to leave Wyoming after Jacob did that for him.

this was all before Jacob had learned a little too late that David was a lost cause, and after David had murdered Hector, Jacob had actually agreed to help Walt catch David, at least after Walt had figured out that Jacob had helped David stage the fake suicide and was threatening legal action against Jacob for it, along with accusing Jacob of helping David try to murder Branch. David had shot Branch twice in the abdomen with a rifle when Branch had snuck out to the sacred site on the res where the remains of the funeral pyre were, where Jacob had claimed that he had burned David's body as per his wishes after Jacob had lied to the sheriff by saying that David had killed himself.

Branch had gone back out there after Jacob had given him a strong warning to stay away from that site, so that Branch could illegally try and take some of the ashes from the funeral pyre to get a DNA test done to find out if the remains there were really David's, and David had shot Branch when he had caught him taking some of the ashes from the funeral pyre to place them in an evidence bag. and although Branch survived the shooting, he became mentally unstable and extremely obsessed with catching David, while David was actually in the process of practicing the ancient ritual of Counting Coup on Branch. eventually, after Walt got on Jacob's ass about it, and actually arrested Jacob for giving a false statement in an official police investigation, Jacob agreed to find out where David was by talking to him on the phone and asking him for that information on the pretense that he was still David's friend, in order to hand that information over to Walt, so that Walt could go and try to arrest David for the attempted murder of Branch, but Jacob only agreed to do that in exchange for an immunity deal that would allow Jacob to get off for having lied to the police about David's fake suicide. after Walt agreed to the deal, Jacob had kept up his end by giving Walt David's location as soon as he was able to get it from David over the phone, and Jacob had told Walt that David was hiding out with a medicine woman who lived in a trailer right beside Horse Creek.

so Walt went out there, and for some reason he decided to drive his own truck, the old 1980's Ford Bronco with the sheriff's emblems stamped all over it, right up to the trailer where David was hiding out, and then he wondered why David had somehow figured out he was coming, so that David was able to ambush Walt on horseback after Walt had gotten out of his truck to look around the trailer. after ultimately killing David in the showdown, Walt didn't wonder for long how David had been able to find him before he had been able to find David, because Walt immediately assumed that Jacob had somehow tipped David off in order to set him up and have David try to kill him.

as a result, Walt had gone to try and arrest Jacob at his office while accusing him of violating his immunity deal by tipping David off, and in response, Jacob had produced a tape recorder that he had used to record his phone conversation with David, in order to prove that he had not done anything of the sort. after hearing the tape, in which Jacob only did what he said he would by acting as David's friend to get him to reveal his location before amiably ending the call without saying anything about the cops coming for him, Walt was forced to give up on trying to arrest Jacob at that time, and he had turned to leave Jacob's office then. but after Jacob had called after him to make a snide comment about Walt just picking up where his deceased wife had left off, to accuse Walt of continuing her crusade against him personally in her absence, Walt had turned around to punch Jacob in the face for bringing up his dead wife, except for the fact that Victoria Moretti, better known as Vic, the female deputy who was there with Walt at the time, had accidentally gotten in the way of Walt's fist, and Walt had ended up punching her square in the nose instead, which only just served to embarrass Walt even further, so Walt had left Jacob alone for a little while after that.

and so after Henry became involved with helping a young Cheyenne woman named Gabriella Langton, who was called gab for short, and who was raped by a couple of white oil-rig workers at another party on the res, Walt eventually got pulled back into gab's case after Henry actually murdered one of the men at his workplace, which was at the Newett Energy oil fields in Cumberland county. although Walt never figured out it was Henry who did that, Walt did end up unknowingly shooting Henry when Henry went back to the site of the party one night afterward, when another party was happening there, in order to get to the other rapist who was already in the process of trying to rape another Cheyenne girl there. but Walt had shown up on the scene to break up the action, and gab had also been there, and she had actually shot the rapist with her pistol after he had thrown Henry off of him and was about to attack him while Henry was down. then Henry and gab had taken off running when they heard Walt yelling in response to the sound of the gunshot, and Walt had gotten there in time to take aim at the fleeing man with his rifle, although Walt hadn't been able to identify the man in the dark, and Walt had managed to hit him, although not kill him. with a little of gab's help, Henry had managed to survive the encounter and make it back to his room at the Red Pony.

******

while Henry is using some antiseptic to disinfect his bulletwound, someone knocks on his door. Henry quickly pulls his sweatpants up as he tells whoever it is to come in, and Henry is surprised to see that it's Jacob Nighthorse who comes in. as soon as Jacob sees the heavy punching bag hanging from Henry's ceiling, which Henry has been using to train himself to be a better fighter to aid in his vigilante work, Jacob becomes immediately fascinated by it, as he begins to wonder about Henry. when Jacob turns to see Henry limping out of the bathroom, he says wow, and that Henry must really love the Red Pony to willingly live in a place like this, and to stay on even after he got bought out by Malachi. Henry says bought out is not how he would put it, and he says Malachi tricked him. Jacob admits that Malachi tricked him too, and he goes back to looking at the punching bag and touching it curiously as he explains that he thought Malachi's past mistakes were attributable to his circumstances, and that if someone like himself believed in Malachi, then his best self would come out. but Jacob also admits that there may be no best self left in the man.

as Jacob lightly touches the punching bag, Henry asks Jacob why he is here. Jacob tells Henry that he has mounting evidence that Malachi has been using the casino as a base for illegal activities, so he says Malachi is threatening everything he has set up, and Jacob says he needs Henry's help. Henry says illegal activities are more of a sheriff Longmire thing, and he asks Jacob why he doesn't go to Walt. Jacob matter-of-factly says well, because Walt hates him, and doesn't trust him. Henry asks if Jacob believes that he himself does. Jacob says maybe not, but he says in the end he thinks they both want the same thing, betterment of their people, achieved by their people. Jacob says Walt would see his trouble with Malachi as an opportunity to destroy his casino, while he says Henry might see it as an opportunity to save his bar. Henry says just when he was beginning to see Jacob as an idealist, the pragmatic negotiator comes out. Jacob says yeah, well, they both like being their own boss, and he says if Henry helps him keep his business, then he will help Henry get his back. Henry asks what Jacob is proposing he should do. Jacob says Malachi has been stealing money, and that he's got to hide it somewhere, and that he's guessing it's here. Henry asks Jacob if he means for Malachi's money laundering, which Henry had already begun to suspect on his own of Malachi doing with his bar. Jacob says yeah, and that if Henry could help him prove that, then Malachi wouldn't be allowed to run this place from prison. Jacob pushes the punching bag a little and hits it lightly with his fist, and he tells Henry to think about it. then Jacob turns to leave.


	7. 7

it's around this time when Cady Longmire, Walt's daughter, who is a trained lawyer, decides to try and do some charity work on the res by offering free legal aid to the Cheyenne people who can't afford to pay a lawyer when they need legal help. Cady starts by going to the tribal police station to ask Mathias if she can borrow his case files that he has just sitting around, mostly because Mathias doesn't have the power to investigate the crimes, or in some cases due to simple lack of evidence. Mathias tries to tell Cady that she doesn't know what she's getting herself into, but he appreciates her spirit, and he agrees to let her borrow his files for one hour and make copies of the cases she's interested in trying to help with.

one day soon afterwards, Cady goes to see Jacob Nighthorse at his casino office, along with her new client, Calvin Blackwolf. Cady calls ahead to set up the meeting, and to let Jacob know that this is a legal matter that he needs to attend to. when Cady gets to the casino, Jacob leads her and her client into his office and invites them to sit down in the chairs in front of his desk, while saying he's not sure which is more surprising to him, the fact that Cady Longmire has voluntarily come to pay him a visit, or that she's friends with Calvin Blackwolf. Cady says she represents Mr. Blackwolf. Jacob asks in what. Cady says in the matter of his wrongful dismissal. Jacob asks Calvin if he was fired, sounding surprised, and asks him what happened. Cady says she's here to ask Jacob the same question, since she reminds him that he is Calvin's employer. Jacob says that's true, but he admits that he doesn’t handle the day-to-day personnel decisions on the floor. Cady asks who that would be. Jacob says Malachi Strand.

then a young female employee of Jacob's comes into the office to hand him a form. as Jacob goes to her to look at the form she has, Jacob asks Calvin why Malachi fired him. Calvin says Malachi accused him of missing shifts, but he insists that's not true, and Calvin explains that every time big tippers came to the table, Malachi would tell him to go take a break. Calvin says that he needed those tips, and he says it's not fair. as Jacob signs the form that was brought to him, he asks Calvin if he complained to Malachi. Cady says Calvin did, and then he was fired, and she says her client believes this was about Malachi playing favorites, but that she thinks Malachi's behavior could suggest even more egregious improprieties. Jacob repeats the phrase "egregious improprieties" as his assistant leaves and he moves back behind his desk, and he says Cady has all the self-righteous hostility one expects from a Longmire, but he says with notably more elegant vocabulary. Cady tells Jacob that he is free to treat this as a joke, but that he has 24 hours to respond to her client's complaint, after which time she says they will be filing suit. Jacob says indeed, and that he will take all of this under consideration. Cady tells Jacob that she is sure he will, and then she gets ready to leave with her client.

later on at the casino, Jacob is sitting down at a bar table and having a drink by himself while he waits for Cady to show up for the follow-up meeting that he's called with her. as Jacob looks at his watch, Cady comes up behind him. when Jacob sees her, he says hey, to greet her. then Jacob holds his hands out to his sides and says here it is, the great demon he says Cady's mother fought so hard against, referring to his casino. Jacob calls over a young female waitress he addresses as Christina to bring Cady a drink, and he asks Cady if this place is really not that bad. Cady says her client sure seems to like it, so she says she hopes that Jacob has some good news for Calvin. Jacob says that's not why he asked Cady to come, and he asks her to please sit. Cady says if they are not talking about Calvin Blackwolf's job, then they are not talking. Jacob tells Cady that he thinks she is going to want to hear this, and he gets up to offer Cady a chair at his table, saying please. Cady reluctantly agrees to sit down, and she takes the chair offered to her by Jacob. then Jacob sits back down and tells her that the profit generated by all this was never intended to enrich any one person, and that it is intended to change the life of the whole tribe. Cady says and yet Jacob is the only one in a Prada suit. Jacob insists that he wants to fund the construction of schools, hospitals, and treatment centers. Cady says she really doesn’t have time for a speech, and as she gets up to leave, she says she has a complaint that she has to write for her client.

before she can leave though, Jacob tells Cady that he would also like to fund her. Cady laughs and says excuse me. Jacob says most of his people don't understand the law and they can't afford lawyers, but with a property funded and managed legal aid center, then they could start to change that. Cady looks at Jacob suspiciously and asks him if he is trying to buy her off so that she will make Calvin's lawsuit just go away. Jacob admits that Calvin shouldn't have been fired, and he says his job is still here if he wants it, along with back pay and an extra week's vacation. Jacob goes on to say that what he would like is for everyone in Cheyenne nation to have access to representation, and that he would like Cady to provide it. Cady narrows her eyes in suspicion as she listens carefully to Jacob. then Jacob tells Cady that he was raised by a white woman, and that he knows there are a few special ones out there, and he gets up from his seat and tells Cady to call his office if she's interested, then he walks away. after Cady thinks it over for a while, she calls Jacob on the phone to tell him that she wants to accept his offer. a bit later, Cady is walking out of the casino with a check for $750,000 that was written to her by Jacob Nighthorse from the Four Arrows Casino community outreach account. so Jacob gave Cady the check to help her start up the legal aid center on the res, and she accepted it.


	8. 8

that night, while Walt has his new girlfriend staying the night at his cabin, who is a local VA clinic psychiatrist named Donna Monaghan, they are trying to have sex in Walt's bedroom when they are both suddenly attacked by an intruder who shoots Walt in the gut with his own rifle, which Walt kind of stupidly has a bad habit of keeping propped up right next to his front door, and then the assailant also kidnaps Donna while Walt is laying helpless on the floor. it isn't until morning that Cady comes over to try and talk to Walt about her new job on the res, which she was dreading having to tell him is being funded by Jacob Nighthorse, and she is horrified to find that her father has been shot. Cady manages to get Walt to the hospital in time to save his life, so Walt survives the shooting, but then they have a lot of trouble figuring out what happened to Donna.

later on, after Walt has checked himself out of the hospital early to start looking for Donna, Cady comes into the sheriff's station to talk to her father. Cady finds him slumped on the couch in his office, brooding over Donna's disappearance, and wondering what else he can do to help find her. Walt is also upset that he can't remember most of what happened in the cabin when Donna was taken, since right after shooting him with it, the still unknown assailant also hit Walt in the head with the butt of his own rifle, hard enough to give him a concussion. Walt asks Cady to tell him what she remembers after she came in and found him shot. Cady tells him most of what happened at that point, although still leaving out the part when Walt mistakenly punched her in his delirious state while she was trying to help him.

Cady mentions using a bloody sheet she found on his bed to help stop his bleeding. she also tells Walt about him asking "where is she", when he was referring to Donna, and Cady admits mistaking Walt's question as him asking for Martha, the deceased wife and mother of Walt and Cady. Cady thought that in Walt's daze he might have thought Martha was still alive, and she didn't know at the time what other woman he could have been referring to, since Walt hadn't said anything to her about dating someone. Cady expresses her feelings of guilt over not realizing there was a woman with Walt during the attack, because she says if she had known that, then she admits she could have gotten the search going for Donna a lot sooner. Walt says it's not her fault, since he admits he didn't tell Cady that he was seeing Donna. Cady says she gets it, because she says Walt was trying to protect her feelings by not telling her he was seeing someone new since Martha died. Cady says she appreciates it, but that she's also sick of it. Cady also admits that she does the same thing, and that she keeps secrets from Walt because she doesn't want to disappoint him.

Walt suddenly becomes concerned about this and asks Cady what secrets. Cady says not now and gets up to leave, but Walt stops her, asking her again what secrets. Cady gives in and tells Walt that she got a new job. Walt says congratulations. then Cady tells him she is working for Jacob Nighthorse. Walt goes silent. then Vic walks in to tell Walt something, and he tells her not now, so Vic says ok and quickly leaves. as Walt stands up, Cady explains that she's not working directly for Jacob, but that he is funding a legal aid operation on the res, and that he asked her to run it. Cady says that's why she came to Walt's cabin this morning, because she says she came to tell him that, and she says she thinks this job is the perfect opportunity. Walt interrupts her to say that because she is his daughter, Nighthorse is just using her. Cady sarcastically says thanks for the vote of confidence. Walt tells Cady to think about it, and Cady tells him that she did. then Cady goes on to say that the casino is here whether they like it or not, and that if she can use the funds from it to help people, then she says she thinks Martha would have liked that. Cady admits that she knows this hurts Walt, just like the idea of someone taking her mom's place hurts her, but she says she thinks it's time they move on with their lives, without secrets.

then Walt changes the subject to talk about the sheet Cady used to stop his bleeding, because he remembers she said it was already bloody, so now he is worried that some of that blood there may have been Donna's, because up to this point they had been hoping that Donna wasn't hurt in the abduction, since they hadn't found any evidence of that yet. Walt asks Cady if she is sure there was already blood on the sheet before she used it on him. Cady says yeah. then Walt says he has to get back to work. as Walt leaves, Cady says so does she, before she also leaves to get started on her new job.

after Walt has finally put it together that the person who broke into his house, shot him, and kidnapped Donna is one of Donna's suicidal female patients named Tamar Smith, Walt also figures out that Tamar took Donna to a house by Foley Lake, so Walt goes out there and finds Donna being held captive by Tamar in a lakehouse. Walt rescues Donna by convincing Tamar that he is giving Donna the power to protect herself by handing Donna his gun, since it turns out that Tamar was raped by her commanding officer in the army, and because Walt just so happens to look a lot like him, Tamar assumed that Walt was going to rape Donna when she saw them together at Donna's house, before they left there to go to Walt's house, and Tamar freaked out and followed them, thinking she was saving Donna from being raped. even though Tamar also shot Donna in the arm during the altercation in Walt's cabin, Tamar still thought she was saving Donna from Walt by kidnapping her. after Tamar finally gives up Donna and walks outside the house, Walt follows her to where she goes to stand on a nearby dock by the water. Tamar then allows Walt to handcuff her to arrest her, and she tells him that this place belonged to her grandpa, and that this is the last place she ever truly felt safe, and that she wants to stand here for just a bit and take one last look at it before she is arrested. Walt naively agrees to let her do that, and while he is distracted by Donna coming over to talk to him, Tamar jumps into the water to try and kill herself again. however, Walt jumps into the water after Tamar, and he manages to save her before she drowns.


	9. 9

a few days later, Cady is waiting in Jacob's office for him to show up to a meeting with her, and she is looking at some of the Indian pottery that's on display in there. then Jacob comes in, telling Cady he's sorry he's late, because he says he was fielding the latest round of complaints. Cady looks concerned and asks him what complaints. Jacob admits to Cady the complaints are about her. Cady is surprised by that, and she asks what she has done. Jacob says she has done exactly what he hired her to do, and says that Cady has been helping his people navigate a legal system built to disenfranchise them, and Jacob asks her if that is what she has been doing. Cady says she has been trying, and that she has been going through Mathias's old cases and reaching out to people on the res. Jacob adds that she has also been putting up fliers. Cady says yeah, and that she thought that would be... but Jacob interrupts her by reading aloud the text on one of the fliers he's holding, which says "Cady Longmire, free legal aid, funded by Four Arrows Casino", and then Jacob raises the flier to show her that the photo of herself that she printed on it has had its eyes defaced to make her look pretty crazy. after lowering the flier, Jacob explains that for a lot of his people, the most frightening words they can hear are, "I'm a concerned white person and I'm here to help". then Jacob tells Cady she just put a bull's-eye on herself, and as he sits down behind his desk and looks over some paperwork, he says it doesn't help that the first tribal casino checks went out this week.

Cady stands in front of Jacob's desk and asks him if that isn't a good thing. Jacob says yeah, but that it's not a life-changing thing, and he says that's what people were expecting, so when they see Cady's fliers... Cady interrupts to finish his thought by saying they wonder if she is the reason their checks aren't any bigger. Jacob says oh yeah. Cady says then maybe they need to show the tribe that the money Jacob is investing in her is actually for them. Jacob asks Cady how do they do that. Cady says with something visible, and she says she could start by opening up an office on the reservation, paying rent and utilities. Jacob says yeah, interesting, something visible. then Jacob gets up from his chair and hands Cady her old flier back, and he goes around to the front of his desk to sit down on the edge of it in front of Cady, and he tells her to just keep in mind that people on the res may not see the world the same way she does.

later on at the Red Pony, Cady is looking at the message board and rifling through the advertisements tacked onto it when Henry comes over to jokingly ask her if she's missing a kitten. they smile at each other, then Cady says no, and that she is looking for office space, because she says Jacob Nighthorse hired her to open a legal aid center. Henry is surprised by this, and he asks her if she is really working for Jacob. then, with a concerned expression, he asks her if Walt knows about this. Cady says he does, and that he also knows that she's a grown adult fully capable of making her own decisions. Henry nods and asks Cady if she told him, or if Walt figured it out. Cady says no, and that she told him. Henry looks at her with a skeptical expression, so Cady admits that she didn't tell Walt everything.

Henry asks her what did she leave out. Cady says how much money Jacob gave her. Henry asks her how much did he give her. Cady says 750,000. Henry asks if she means dollars, sounding really surprised. Cady nods and says yes. Henry nods incredulously and says that is generous, then he quickly walks away. Cady follows after him, concerned, and she says he's upset. Henry stops and angrily says he is surprised. Cady says yeah, and that apparently he's not the only one, because she admits there's already been complaints. Henry says Jacob made a lot of promises to the tribe. Cady asks how much were these tribal casino checks. Henry says about $745,000 less than Cady's. Cady says oh and scoffs, then she asks Henry if he has any idea where she can find some office space on the res, so that she can start putting this money back into the community. Henry says there is not much in the way of traditional office space, so he says that she may have to be non-traditional in her thinking. then Henry walks away to go back to work.

a couple of days later, Henry goes with Cady to an old cabin on the res that he has recommended to her, for her to use as her office space for the legal aid center. after he shows Cady inside, he gets a call on his cellphone from Jacob. Jacob is sitting on a couch in his casino office while looking at a page of his hotel's guest room history log that shows a large number of transactions with a company called manifest destinations, which Jacob has already figured out is a fake travel agency that is really a front for the Irish mob. Jacob tells Henry sarcastically, oh, his phone does work, and he says he was beginning to wonder why he hadn't heard from Henry. Henry says that he has been somewhat busy lately. Jacob skeptically asks, is that right, and he asks Henry if he has found a better way to get his bar back than by helping him. Henry says that he has not. Jacob says he didn't think so, which he says means they need to have a talk about what exactly Malachi is up to.


	10. 10

Henry shows up at Jacob's casino office with a burger from the Red Pony for him, while Jacob is sitting behind his desk doing paperwork. Henry comes in and sets the bag down on Jacob's desk and asks him why he doesn't order a burger from his own restaurant, since the casino has one. Jacob asks rhetorically why he would want to miss out on the best burger in town, as Henry's burgers really are his favorite, and he takes the bag from Henry and sets it aside on his desk. then Jacob asks Henry if he has found out anything about Malachi laundering money through the Red Pony, and he offers for Henry to take a seat. Henry says he is just delivering food and that he does not know what Jacob is talking about. Jacob says Henry thinks his office is bugged and that Malachi is listening in, then Jacob yells into the room, jokingly addressing Malachi and saying that if Malachi is listening, then he and Standing Bear are conspiring as they speak to uncover all his criminal activities, and Jacob asks Malachi if he's got that. Jacob does this to show Henry that he is confident that Malachi is not actually listening in, since Jacob was smart enough to have already had his office checked for bugs. then Jacob tells Henry if they are going to work together, then they have to at least pretend to trust each other. Henry says fine, and he walks a little ways from Jacob's desk as he says that all he knows is there is a lot more money flowing through the Red Pony, and that there are new revenue streams too.

Jacob is very interested in hearing this, so he gets up from his desk while carrying his burger bag with him to follow Henry while continuing to listen to him as Henry walks over to the other side of the room. Henry goes on to say that according to the ledger he found, Jacob's casino is booking the Red Pony's catering services several times a week, which Henry knows very well is not true. Jacob says that is news to him, and Henry says it is to him too. Jacob says so there must be a second ledger with the real numbers and the real sources of income. Henry says he has not found it yet. Jacob tells him to try harder, and that when he finds it to keep an eye out for a company called manifest destinations, because Jacob says he thinks they're a front for a criminal organization. Henry is surprised by this, and he says already, and that the casino just opened. Jacob says oh yeah, and that everyone's trying to siphon away the profits. Henry's tone changes to an accusatory one and says ah yes, the profits that should be going to the tribe.

Jacob asks Henry if this is about Cady. Henry says it has less to do with Cady than about Jacob's priorities. Jacob says his priorities are the well-being of their people and the infrastructure of their community, to include schools, community centers, and access to legal aid. Henry asks what about the people themselves. Jacob asks Henry if he has heard of re-feeding syndrome as he walks over to a coffee table and drops his burger bag down onto it. then Jacob explains that it's when a starved body can't process an excess of new food, so the body shuts down, and dies even. Jacob goes on to say that for centuries their people have been starved of prosperity and opportunity, and he sits down on a nearby chair before going on. then Jacob says you can't just open up a buffet and expect a starving person to make smart choices, as Jacob opens the burger bag on the table and takes the carton holding the burger out to set it down in front of him, so he can eat it. Jacob tells Henry that you have to feed the starved body a little at a time so that it can get well again. Henry nods and sarcastically says that Jacob is saving misguided Indians from themselves, and Henry accuses Jacob of sounding like the US government. then Henry leaves.

a little while after Henry leaves, someone else knocks on the door of Jacob's casino office, and after Jacob says come in, Cady peeks in around the door and smiles at him before entering the room. Jacob asks her if they had a meeting scheduled. Cady says no, and that she was just coming to tell him that she found some decent office space on the res, and that it's going to need a lot of work before it can open, but she says she feels good about it. Jacob gets up from the chair behind his desk to take a card out of his jacket, saying he has a good handyman for her, and he writes down a number on the back of the card, saying it's a gentleman named Sam Poteet. then Jacob goes to Cady to hand the card to her, but she is reluctant to take it, and she says that actually she can take care of the repairs herself. Cady is reluctant to work with Sam, because she remembers him from the incident where Branch had kidnapped Sam and forced him to take peyote, after Sam had refused to give Branch any information about David Ridges, because Sam was a member of Jacob's Dog Soldier group along with David, although Cady doesn't say any of this out loud. Jacob argues that it was Cady's idea to visibly demonstrate how the money he gave her is being reinvested on the res, and he asks her if she doesn't think that hiring a member of the tribe will help with that. Cady adamantly says not if it's a waste of money.

Jacob nods, getting the idea of what this is really about, and he walks over to where he has a ceremonial rifle on display in his office, and Cady follows him there. as Jacob grasps the rifle, he says that Mr. Poteet is both highly dependable and highly efficient, and he lifts the rifle off its stand to hold it at the ready, although he keeps it pointed away from Cady, and he cocks the rifle's lever to verify its functionality. Jacob then turns to Cady while holding up the rifle, and Cady half-seriously asks him if he is threatening her. Jacob explains that in Cheyenne culture, the most prized dowry a groom can offer his new bride's father is a rifle, and as Jacob brings the rifle to Cady, he says there's a reason for this tradition, and he asks Cady if she knows what it is. Cady says no, clearly. Jacob says the idea is that you never arm your enemy, and he says Cady is making a deep, and dare he say, courageous commitment to this tribe, and that the rifle is a symbol of his trust. then Jacob holds the rifle out to Cady and asks her to take it. Cady takes it and says thank you. then Jacob turns away for a moment to grab something else, and when he turns back he adds that for those times when symbols don't suffice, then she should have these as well, and Jacob hands her a box of bullets to go with the rifle. Cady takes them as well with a serious expression as she considers Jacob's offering along with his advice.


	11. 11

Henry goes to a house on the res where Mathias is waiting for him. when Henry gets there he sees that someone is being carried on a stretcher into an ambulance that's parked in front of the house, and whoever it is has the sheet pulled over their head, so Henry knows that person is already dead. Mathias tells Henry that Jim Pine OD'ed. Henry asks if the guy's son, Mingan, knows yet. Mathias says yeah, because he says Mingan found him, and that Jim Pine is the fifth OD since the casino checks went out. Mathias says suddenly people have money and they're celebrating, and he says it's courtesy of this guy, as he shows Henry a profile sheet of a man named Joey Takoda. Mathias says he wants Hector, meaning Henry, to go after him. Henry says he's sorry but he cannot do that, and he hands the sheet back to Mathias. Mathias snatches the paper back angrily and tells Henry that Joey is selling heroin on the res, and that he's left Mingan a 14-year-old orphan.

Henry argues that Hector is not some reservation batman righting all of society's wrongs, and he tells Mathias that since he knows who the dealer is, then he should go arrest him. Mathias angrily says he has, three times, but that he can only hold someone on a misdemeanor, and that dealing drugs is a federal crime. Mathias goes on to say and now that white people are dying from heroin, the feds have even less time for Indians. Henry says the Hector they knew never played god, and that he only stepped in as a last resort, and he goes on to argue, asking what about Jim Pine's own responsibility in all of this, since he says they both know that Jim was a junkie. Mathias is surprised to hear Henry say this, and he asks Henry if he's saying that Jim deserved it. Henry adamantly says no to that, but he says if they blame Jim's death on this dealer, then why not blame his last one, or the guy who fired him from burger king when he was 22, or why not go after Nighthorse who sent out the casino checks. Mathias asks Henry if his idea is to do nothing and let their entire tribe fall apart. Henry says right now his first priority is Mingan. then Henry leaves Mathias, who has a frustrated look on his face, while Henry goes to see Mingan, who is sitting down nearby and looking very sad, so Henry can try to comfort him.

that night, Walt goes to visit Cady at her new legal office on the res, and he carries his civil suit papers with him, along with a plant to give Cady as an office-warming gift. Walt is bringing his legal papers to Cady because he recently found out that he's being sued by the late Barlow Connally's estate, for the wrongful death of Barlow himself, along with being accused of committing all sorts of corruption during his time serving as the sheriff of Absaroka county. when Walt goes to the door of the old house that Cady is using as her office space, he hears a loud popping noise coming from inside, which alarms Walt because it sounds a lot like a gunshot, so Walt rushes in to find Cady using a big nail gun to install new wood panels on the floor, and Cady is wearing earmuffs for hearing protection, so she doesn't hear Walt come in.

Walt sneaks up on her and lifts her earmuffs while yelling her a greeting to scare her. it works, and Cady yells in surprise, and then she whirls around to defensively point her nail gun at Walt. Walt backs off and holds his hands up, telling Cady not to shoot him. Cady laughs when she sees it's just her dad, and she tells him that he scared her. then after putting the nail gun down, she asks him what he's doing here. Walt holds out the plant to her, saying it's for office warming. Cady gets up to take the plant, and she smiles and says thank you as she looks at it. then Cady moves to place the plant on the nearby fireplace mantle, and Walt asks her if she's doing all this renovation by herself. Cady says yep, and now that Walt's here, she says he should make himself useful. Walt says yes ma'am as he kneels down to start placing more wood panels for Cady to nail to the floor.

Walt then brings up his civil suit, saying they need a response by Friday. Cady stops what she's doing to look at Walt in surprise, and she tells him that he should have answered that complaint weeks ago. Walt says it's ok, and that he knows Cady has been busy, and he says he doesn't blame her. Cady asks what he means by that, because she says she isn't his lawyer, and that she assumed he would have found one by now. Walt claims that people don't know that he's being sued, and that he would like to keep it that way, although Walt apparently has no idea that just about everybody in the county already knows all about it. Cady says she can't represent him, because she says she is his daughter. Walt reminds her that she represented Henry, who is her godfather, when he needed legal assistance back when he was being falsely accused of murdering Miller Beck. Cady says yeah, but that Henry isn't really a relative, and that Henry didn't have any options, but she says Walt does. Cady then adds, options that don't reinforce Walt's guilt, as she suggests that hiring his own daughter to defend him in his civil suit would only just make Walt look that much more guilty.

Walt insists that he's not guilty. Cady explains that having her represent him will just confirm everything he's being accused of, which she says includes cronyism, corruption, and ignoring the rules. Cady also adds that he may not have noticed, but she reminds Walt that she already has a job now. Walt stands up and incredulously accuses Cady of choosing Nighthorse over him. Cady ignores that and goes to her bag to pull out a card for Walt, saying it's for David Milgrom, who she says is a great civil attorney who she knows can do a good job for Walt. Cady hands the card to Walt and tells him to give Dave a call. Walt takes the card, but he doesn't look happy about it. then Walt turns to leave, and Cady tells him thanks for the plant as she goes back to working on her floor panels. but after Walt leaves, Cady stops for a moment and looks over her shoulder with a worried expression, as she hopes that her father will do what she said and not try to blow off his civil suit, because Cady already knows very well that he won't be able to do that, no matter how hard Walt tries to ignore the seriousness of the situation.

the reason why is because even though Walt has already been cleared by the FBI of murdering Barlow, because it was determined that Walt had only shot Barlow in self defense, before Barlow had actually killed himself with Walt's own pocket knife at the base of Walt's porch steps, the charges being brought against Walt in the civil suit by Barlow's lawyer and best friend Tucker Baggett are serious charges. and although Walt can't be sent to jail for it now, even if he's found guilty of wrongfully killing Barlow in his upcoming civil trial, Walt can still be made to pay a huge judgment that Walt would have serious difficulty in coming up with the money for, and Walt would undoubtedly be kicked out of the sheriff's department as a result as well.


	12. 12

the next day, Cady is continuing to work on the renovations of her new office when Henry comes to see her there. when Cady sees him, they smile at each other, and she asks him what he thinks of the place so far. while Henry is looking around, Cady modestly says it's almost an office. Henry looks over to see what task Cady is in the middle of doing, and he sees that she's installing a phone cord. Henry says land line, how old school. Cady says yeah, well the cell service sucks out here. while Cady continues to work, Henry asks her if she is set up enough to start offering legal advice. Cady stops working and says oh yes, of course, and she immediately gets up to grab a chair for Henry and tells him to have a seat. as she sets the chair out for him, Cady half-jokingly asks him to please not tell her that he killed someone, since Cady secretly has strong suspicions about Henry being involved in some vigilante work, to include murdering the rapist who was found dead at the oil-rig site in Cumberland. Henry ignores that and asks Cady how he can go about becoming a foster parent for a Cheyenne child.

Cady half-jokingly says that she would start by not living over a bar, then after seeing Henry looking serious, she asks Henry if he is really serious. Henry says he is. Cady says ok, and she explains that the Indian child welfare act made it a big priority to keep native kids with native families, so she says that will work in his favor, and that once she gets her computer set up, then she will start the application process for him. Henry says they need to move quickly because he has a particular boy in mind. Cady says she has internet at home, so she can print out the materials tonight, and then they can start on them tomorrow. Henry smiles and goes to hug Cady. she hugs him back, and then Henry tells her thank you. Cady says he's welcome, and then Henry leaves.

later on, Henry goes back to Mingan's house to visit him again. Mingan doesn't answer the door, but it's unlocked so Henry lets himself inside. Henry sees the entire house is littered with all kinds of drug paraphernalia, including heroin needles. then Henry finds Mingan in his bedroom, laying in his bed. after Henry walks in to stand in the room, he tells Mingan that he hopes he doesn't mind that he let himself in. Mingan mumbles tiredly to ask him what for. Henry tells Mingan that he wanted to check on him, and also that he brought him a gift. then Henry pulls a medicine bag out of his pocket, which is the same one that Henry used to keep Miller Beck's teeth in, which he had gotten from the real Hector back when Henry had hired Hector to punish Beck for killing Walt's wife. 

Henry tells Mingan, who has not looked over at him yet, that it's a medicine bag, as Henry holds it out for him. Henry says it gave him strength when he needed it most, and that now he wants Mingan to have it. Mingan absently tells Henry that he can just leave it on his desk. Henry says no he cannot, and says that he needs Mingan to get out of the bed and come here to him and take it for himself. Henry says the medicine will give Mingan strength, but that Mingan also needs to find his own. Mingan slowly gets out of bed and then walks over to Henry to take the medicine bag that Henry is offering to him. after Mingan takes it, he doesn't look any happier, and Henry puts his hand on Mingan's shoulder, while Mingan stares down at the medicine bag in his hand with a listless expression. Henry tells Mingan that he wants him to know that as bad as things seem right now, he says Mingan will be ok. and Henry says he thinks he may have found a way to make sure of that, referring to his intent to become Mingan's legal guardian, but Henry doesn't say so out loud yet, since he wants to make sure that Cady can actually help him do that first. Henry says but first Mingan needs to get dressed and eat something. Mingan looks up at Henry with tears in his eyes, which are beginning to stream down his face. Henry says then he will take Mingan to school. then Henry gives Mingan a hug and kisses him on the head as he looks forward to becoming this boy's foster-dad.

later that afternoon, Henry gets a strangely panicked call from Mathias, who refuses to explain anything over the phone, and who just begs Henry to meet him at a certain place on the res. so Henry quickly drives out there to meet Mathias, who Henry finds kneeling near an old barren tree in a field. Henry sees Mathias with an unusually distraught expression on his face, and when Henry looks over to where Mathias is looking, Henry screams, "no!", over and over when he sees that Mingan's dead body is hanging from the tree by a noose. Henry runs to Mingan and hugs him, and Henry lifts Mingan's body to try and relieve the pressure on his neck that the rope is causing, just in case the boy could still be alive. then Henry cries for Mathias to come and help him. Mathias doesn't move though, since he had already verified that Mingan was dead as soon as he got there, after he got the call to come out here by someone who had spotted the body. Henry continues to hold Mingan's body while he cries in grief, and Mathias also starts crying while he watches Henry do this. Mathias says the children look at their lives and see no future, no one stepping up, and nothing ever changing.

Henry finds the medicine bag that he gave Mingan just a little earlier in the day stuffed inside one of the front pockets of Mingan's jeans, and Henry removes it and grips it tightly while he continues crying for Mingan. Mathias stands up and screams at the sky, distraughtly asking how he is supposed to protect them. then Mathias angrily draws his pistol and fires it several times into the tree's trunk as he continues screaming in rage. after Mathias stops, Henry tells him to cut Mingan down. so Mathias climbs the tree and uses his pocket knife to cut the rope that Mingan is hanging from, while Henry continues holding Mingan's body so it won't drop to the ground. then Henry sits on the ground and holds Mingan's corpse as he continues to cry. Mathias joins Henry by kneeling beside him and resting his hands on Mingan's head, and both Henry and Mathias sing a native song together in honor of Mingan.


	13. 13

around the same time, Walt comes into the sheriff's station, and Ruby, the old lady who has long served as the sheriff station's dispatcher and manager, tells Walt that his lawyer his here. Walt looks confused by that and says he didn't call a lawyer. Ruby just shrugs, so Walt goes into his office to find a man from Brooklyn who introduces himself as Dave Milgrom, and Dave holds his hand out for Walt to shake. Walt goes ahead and takes Dave's hand to shake it, because he doesn't want to be rude since he has no ill will towards this man, but Walt tells him there must be some mistake, because he says he didn't call him. Dave admits that it was Cady who asked him to come, and he asks Walt to tell him about his civil suit. Walt says well, there isn't much to tell, as he opens his drawer to pull out the legal paperwork and hand it over to Dave.

Walt says that the Barlow Connally estate is claiming wrongful death, but Walt says he is innocent. Dave says Barlow was a big macher, as he says they say in new york, and that killing him might not have been so smart. Walt says that he would have preferred not to. as Dave looks through the contents of the folder, Dave is surprised and asks Walt if Barlow was stabbed, because he says he thought Barlow was shot. Walt says he was, and says he shot him, but that Barlow stabbed himself. Dave questioningly says but Walt's fingerprints are on the knife. Walt says yep. Dave says ok as he shakes his head. then Vic comes in to tell Walt something she found out regarding their current case on a missing hunter. Walt moves to leave with her, and Dave asks him in disappointment if they are done. Walt says for right now, because he says he has to go to Omaha, then he quickly leaves the station with Vic.

******

the next morning, Henry is staking out Joey Takoda's house when Cady calls his cellphone. Henry answers it, and Cady tells him that she got those foster applications he wanted, so if he wants to stop by, she says she can walk him through the process. Henry just tells her that is no longer necessary and that he's sorry he bothered her. Cady asks him what happened. Henry says Mingan…but he trails off, and then just says that the issue resolved itself, and Henry thanks Cady again before hanging up on her.

******

that evening when Walt gets home from work, he finds Dave Milgrom waiting for him on his porch, the lawyer from Brooklyn who Cady had called to help defend Walt against Tucker Baggett's civil suit. after Walt pulls up in front of his cabin and gets out of his truck, Dave tells Walt that his property is quite a spread, as Dave approvingly looks out across the expanse of Walt's property. Walt just says yep, as he walks up to his porch. Dave moves to stand near the bottom of the porch steps and asks Walt if this is where Barlow died. Walt says yep, and he points to the spot right by Dave's feet. then Walt asks Dave what brings him out here. 

Dave says he brought Walt his file and his legal opinion as he hands Walt back the paperwork on his civil suit. then Dave tells Walt that he should just settle this case. Walt asks why he should settle. Dave says lawsuits are expensive, and that Barlow's estate has deep pockets, so he says even if Walt wins, it's going to cost him, so Dave says that Walt should just settle and get back to enjoying this view. Walt says how about he hires Dave and doesn't settle, because he says it's time that Barlow took no for an answer. Dave smiles and says ok then, and he says more money for him, then Dave grabs his briefcase and leaves.

******

later that night, Joey Takoda comes home to find his entire heroin stash is missing. Joey hears someone lighting a fire outside in his back yard, and he draws his pistol and goes to see who's out there. Henry, who his wearing a black hood over his face to conceal his identity, attacks Joey from around a corner and disarms him. then Henry knocks Joey to the ground and grabs him to hold a large knife near his face. Henry stabs one of the heroin packets in the nearby bucket he placed on the ground, and Henry holds it up on the tip of his knife in front of Joey's face and he asks Joey if he is looking for this. Joey cries please, and he says that's his whole stash. 

Henry calls Joey a traitor to his people who doesn't just push heroin, but who also pushes death and despair. then Henry knocks Joey away from him so he can grab the bucket and hold it next to the fire, threatening to dump it in. Joey pleads, saying that product isn't his, and he begs his assailant, who he assumes is the new Hector that's already gotten quite a reputation on the res, to go ahead and just beat the shit out of him and take his teeth, because Joey says if that product is torched, then they will kill him, referring to the people who he got the heroin from. Henry angrily says then burn in hell as he dumps the bucket of heroin packets into the fire, destroying them all, while Joey screams futilely. then before leaving Joey's house, Henry takes the time to spray-paint "Hector Lives" on the side of Joey's house, as a warning to anyone else who is dealing heroin on the res.

however, Henry doesn't fully realize yet that Joey wasn't kidding, and that he just signed Joey's death warrant, because soon afterward, Joey is actually murdered by Eddie Harp, who is a member of the Irish mob who has been working with Malachi to distribute the heroin on the res, and who was ordered by his boss to kill Joey in retaliation for losing all their heroin that Joey was entrusted with by Malachi to sell on the res for them.

******

after smoothing things over with the Irish mob leader, Shane Muldoon, by promising him the head of Hector, Malachi goes to talk to a few of his henchmen, including Darius Burns and Lane Potter, out in a secluded area of some forest. Malachi tells them he wants them to find Hector and bring him to him either dead or alive. Darius says Hector is already dead, and that everyone knows that, so he insists that Hector is just a ghost story now. lane argues against that by saying no way, because he says he saw Hector, or almost did, and he insists that anyway Hector is alive and very real. Malachi says he doesn't care about their philosophical debate, because he says someone is sticking their hands into their business and signing it as Hector, and he insists that this has got to stop.

the third guy in the group says he can't do it, and he says he's sorry, but he says Hector is a spirit and a descendant of the dog soldiers, so he insists that he just can't do it. Malachi tells him that what he is saying then is that he is more afraid of Hector than he is of him, which very much displeases Malachi. the guy says he is saying if Hector is really speaking for their ancestors... but before he can finish his sentence, Malachi draws his pistol and shoots the guy in the chest. the guy falls to the ground, and although he isn't totally dead yet, he soon will be, and for right now he's sputtering and gasping for breath. Malachi walks over to him saying if Hector really is a spirit then he can tell him hello for him, and to let Hector know that Malachi is coming for him. then Malachi turns to Darius and lane and asks them if anyone else has any more issues they want to settle. they both shake their heads no, and Malachi says good. then Malachi turns to walk away, leaving the guy he just shot to die on his own, knowing that Darius and lane will dispose of the body for him.


	14. 14

since Malachi is no longer running any illegal business directly out of the casino as far as Jacob can tell, although he is aware of the prostitutes that are still working out of his hotel thanks to Malachi and the Irish mob, Jacob decides to transfer Cora from the casino to have her start guarding the new legal aid clinic that he recently started up on the res with Cady Longmire, because Jacob is honestly worried about Cady's safety while she works on the res. 

Cora is a little disappointed when Jacob tells her where he wants her to start working instead of at the casino, and she says she doesn't know if she and Cady will get along, since Cady is the sheriff's daughter, and Cora doesn't particularly like Walt, just from what she has already heard Jacob say about him. Jacob explains to Cora that he worries about Cady's safety on the res, because he admits that Cady is kind of naive about how things work here, and he says if Cora wants to do the most good for him like she said, then this is where he needs her right now. Jacob tells Cora that he gave Cady a rifle for self-defense, but that it might not be enough if she doesn't know how to use it, and that this legal aid clinic is very important to him and his people, and he insists it is every bit as important as the casino is.

Cora agrees to trust Jacob's judgment on this, and she does what he tells her to by going to the legal aid clinic to work there as a security guard instead of at the casino. Jacob is happy that Cora agrees to take this job for him, and he calls Cady to tell her to expect Cora to start showing up there for security duty. Cady is surprised that Jacob wants to assign her a security guard, and she says she thinks that's a bit over-the-top considering that she is just starting out here on the res. Jacob tells Cady to give Cora a chance, because he says Cora is good at her job, and Jacob insists that the legal aid clinic deserves some kind of protection. Cady decides not to argue with Jacob about it for now, because she can tell that he means well, and she tells Jacob ok, and Jacob thanks her for cooperating with him on this.

when Cady meets Cora, Cady tells her that she is not sure why Jacob would send someone like her to the legal aid clinic, because Cady admits that she doesn't feel like she needs a security guard. Cora tells Cady that she is just doing what her boss told her to, and she says to not take it personally, because she says Jacob is just trying to look out for Cady, and also for his business and his customers, so Cora says it's not all about Cady. Cady feels like she kind of just got put in her place right there, so she agrees to tolerate Cora, even though she thinks Cora is kind of weird. Cora does her best to stay out of the way while Cady works, or at least tries to work, since Cady barely gets any customers.

eventually Cora starts to feel pretty bored at the legal aid clinic, but she wants to do right by Jacob and keep her promise to let him decide where he needs her, so she doesn't complain too much about it. because Jacob is worried about Cora getting bored at the legal aid clinic though, he sometimes calls her in to deal with some issues at the casino when things come up there, where she can be useful. as the casino continues to grow in popularity, eventually Cora winds up spending half of her shifts at the casino and the other half of them at the legal aid clinic, which Jacob is content to let her do at that point, because he realizes the fact that Cora has now become known as a presence at the legal aid clinic is enough to create some of a deterrent to potential crime there, even if she is not there all the time.


	15. 15

one day Jacob is giving a speech at a career fair on the res to attract residents of the tribe to apply for jobs at his casino. Jacob tells the crowd that they can enjoy 401k packages, profit sharing, paid vacations, and that at Four Arrows there are advancement opportunities. Jacob says that their card dealers have become pit bosses and managers, and that the majority of them didn't have a college degree. that's when Walt walks in to hear Jacob speaking at the microphone, and Walt stands and waits until Jacob is done talking before approaching him. Jacob goes on to say that best of all, his business is recession-proof, and that the casino gaming industry is one of the fastest growing, multi-billion dollar industries in this country, and he tells them that they can look it up.

Jacob is then applauded by the crowd, and he goes on to say that anyway, before they leave the career fair, they can just drop on by his table there, and he points to where it is, and he says they will set them up with applications and answer any questions they have. Jacob tells them to remember, the lack of a college degree shouldn't stop any of them from going after a lucrative and fulfilling career. then he says all right, yeah, come on, and claps his hands to get the crowd applauding again, which they do. then Jacob goes to one of the people sitting in the front of the crowd, who stands up to shake his hand, and that's when Jacob finally notices Walt is there, obviously waiting for him.

Walt then comes over to accuse Jacob of encouraging students to work at a casino rather than go to college. Jacob patiently explains that college isn't an option for most of these kids. Walt sarcastically asks why not give them the option of getting up close and personal with the heroin trade and organized crime. Jacob asks him what he's talking about. Walt tells him that he just arrested a heroin dealer, referring to Eddie Harp, who Walt had recently arrested after Eddie had murdered Joey Takoda, and Walt also says that Eddie happens to be a murderer who's connected to the Irish mob, and that when his deputy was transporting him out of the county, they were ambushed by gunmen in an 18-wheeler who took the prisoner to help him escape.

Jacob says that's quite a story, and he asks what does it have to do with him. Walt says the DOT on the truck is linked to a travel agency, and Walt asks Jacob if he's ever heard of a travel agency that owns 18-wheelers. Jacob says no he hasn't. Walt tells Jacob that actually he has, and Walt says it was manifest destinations, which he reminds Jacob is the same travel agency that books blocks of rooms at Jacob's hotel, and Walt says it turns out that manifest destinations is a front for the mob and their heroin operation. Walt accuses Jacob of already knowing that though, because he is utterly convinced that not only is Jacob in on this whole deal, but that he is really the mastermind behind it all.

Jacob gets upset and says oh, ok, let me get this straight, and he sarcastically says by Walt's logic, if an oil executive books a room in his hotel, then that makes him responsible for global warming. Walt says he wants this murderer, Eddie Harp, and his boss, and that he wants their heroin out of his county. Jacob says dear god Walt, an he asks if there is no crime anywhere that Walt won't try to blame on him. as Jacob turns away, Walt asks him who he works with at manifest destinations, and where he can find him.

Jacob says well, he can't answer those questions, but he says here are a couple of questions and answers he can provide. then Jacob asks, did he invite manifest destinations here, and he answers the question himself by saying no he did not. then Jacob asks, did he know about or have anything to do with a heroin operation, and he answers again by saying no he did not. then Jacob tells Walt that if he has any other baseless accusations he needs to level against him, he suggests that Walt should save them for the deposition, referring to the next proceeding of Walt's civil suit that Jacob knows is currently underway, because he already knows that he's going to be called by the prosecution to testify against Walt at his upcoming trial. then Jacob walks away, leaving Walt with a brooding expression.


	16. 16

at one of the said depositions, which is being held in the living room of Tucker's own private log mansion, in preparation for Walt's upcoming civil trial, Walt is present while Jacob is being questioned by Walt's lawyer, Dave. Dave asks Jacob if sheriff Longmire arrested him for conspiracy in the attempted murder of Branch Connally. Jacob answers honestly and says yeah. Dave then asks him that when Walt was unable to convict him of that charge, if Walt released him. Jacob says not exactly, because he admits they made a deal first. Dave says ok, and asks what happened after they made the deal. Jacob says then Walt released him.

Tucker interrupts to say then Walt shot at Mr. Nighthorse. Walt says no he did not, and he says Barlow did that. Tucker asks if that's just according to Walt, then Tucker laughs and says Barlow shot at Mr. Nighthorse right before Walt shot Barlow, and Tucker laughs again and says that's convenient. then Tucker tells Jacob that he can appreciate that Jacob doesn't want to pile onto the sheriff here, but he says everybody knows that Walt isn't a big fan of Jacob's casino, and he asks Jacob if it's true that ever since Four Arrows opened, Jacob has been a constant victim of aggressive harassment by Walt's department, and he asks if sheriff Longmire didn't accuse Jacob, at gunpoint, of killing both Walt's deputy and his wife.

Walt stands up out of his chair upon hearing that, and Dave interrupts, telling Tucker to hold on, and saying that Tucker has quite a flair for drama, and that he would buy tickets to his show, but Dave says let's get real. then Dave tells Jacob that he can't really think that Walt is that bad a man, and that he must find something trustworthy in the Longmire name since he says Jacob has gone out and hired Walt's daughter as a lawyer. Walt interrupts to blurt out that Jacob only hired Cady to buy his silence, completely unaware of the fact that he just totally defeated the purpose of Dave's line of argument right there, because Dave had seen the opportunity to actually try and get Jacob on their side.

Jacob stands up then to face Walt as Walt accuses him of trying to manipulate him by recruiting Cady, so that Walt won't take Jacob down for bringing the mob and heroin into Walt's county through his casino. Jacob just says, "whoa", quietly in amazement in response to Walt's unprovoked attack on him. then Tucker stands up and chuckles as he says he does believe that sheriff Longmire here is doing his damnedest to try and intimidate his witness. then Tucker pats Jacob on the shoulder and says he thinks it's about time they all took themselves a little break. then Tucker asks Jacob to go on back in his study. without another word, Jacob quickly grabs his briefcase and leaves the room. Tucker laughs at Walt as he follows Jacob out of the room. 

after they are gone, Dave tells Walt that he thinks they need to find a middle ground between not showing up and whatever that was, and Dave explains to Walt that he took Tucker's bait, and that losing his temper like that just gives Tucker ammunition for his case. Dave tells Walt not to dig his own grave here, then Dave leaves Walt, who just stands there looking pretty confused, since he honestly still doesn't understand what he did wrong, even though it was pretty plainly just explained to him.


	17. 17

Henry goes to Jacob's casino office again, to deliver another burger for him. when Henry comes in, Jacob asks him to put the burger on his desk. while Henry does that, Jacob goes over to a wooden crate that's sitting on the floor in his office and uses a crowbar to start prying off the lid. when Henry quietly goes to leave, Jacob stops him by mentioning manifest destinations, and he asks Henry if he has found anything in Malachi's books about them, or a reference to someone named Shane Muldoon. Jacob gets the crate open and reaches into it to pull out an Indian artifact, which appears to be an old decorated leather breastplate. Henry asks him who is Shane Muldoon. Jacob says that's the person Malachi might be doing business with. Henry tells him that if they are dealing with the Irish mob here, then it is time to talk to Walt about it, because he says this is getting bigger than just the two of them.

Jacob stops to think for a moment, then he tells Henry that he never mentioned the Irish mob to him. Henry says the name Shane Muldoon kind of announces itself, so he claims it is not a hard deduction. Jacob stands up with his crowbar in hand and asks Henry if he's already been talking to Walt, because he says Walt is suddenly aware of a connection between manifest destinations and the Irish mob, and Jacob says that makes him wonder who told Walt about it. Henry tells Jacob that he should ask Walt that himself. 

Jacob walks closer to Henry while still carrying the crowbar and asks him how much he's shared with Walt about their deal. Henry says he has told Walt nothing about it. Jacob asks him if they still have a deal, and he rests his crowbar on his shoulder as he suspiciously says he finds it strange that Henry found all those fake Red Pony ledgers so fast, and yet he says Henry hasn't been able to locate Malachi's real books for weeks. Henry says he's been a little busy lately, because he says his life his not his own anymore, and that he has too many puppet masters pulling his strings. then Henry tells Jacob to believe him when he says that he would like nothing more than to have his bar, and his independence, and his dignity back. then Henry turns to leave, and Jacob lets him go.


	18. 18

while Cady is working at the legal aid clinic on the res, she winds up getting involved in the domestic dispute between a married couple named Asha and JP Wright. Asha is a Cheyenne woman who is married to a white guy who lives on the res named JP Wright, and JP is a drunk wife beater who habitually beats Asha. as Cady works to help Asha and try to shelter her from her abusive husband, Cady actually asks Cora to start spending more time at the legal aid clinic, in order to help her protect Asha from JP. Cora does what Cady asks, and she even starts staying after hours to guard the legal aid clinic at night while Cady is letting Asha sleep there. it mostly works, since JP never tries to show up at the legal aid clinic when he knows Cora is there, but JP has been secretly watching the building from a distance, with binoculars to prevent anyone from detecting him, while he waits patiently enough for an opportunity.

******

after attending a particularly nasty deposition for his civil suit, in which walker browning, the supervisor of the two men who had raped gab Langton, was there to give his testimony for the prosecution, Walt goes to the Red Pony to have a couple of drinks, because he is feeling pretty stressed out after that, since walker is very antagonistic to Walt. after finishing his first beer, Walt calls Henry over to give him a second one. Henry brings it to Walt saying he just brought him one 30 seconds ago, and he asks Walt what is going on. Walt grabs the beer from Henry and opens it to take a drink before responding. then Walt says he's in all this trouble for trying to do his job well, and that he has to ask himself if he's actually doing his job well with the mob bringing prostitutes and murderers and heroin into his county, and then when he thinks he's found the guy that's behind it, he says it turns out the guy's been using a fake name. Walt explains that the real Connor O'Brien, whose name is the one that the Irish mob boss has most recently been using as an alias, has been dead for 40 years, and Walt sarcastically says rest in peace, and he takes another drink of his beer. Henry knows that Walt is trying to find out who the head of the Irish mob is, and Henry asks him what if he has the real name. Walt looks up at him in surprise, and Henry says Shane Muldoon.

Walt asks Henry how he knows that. Henry says he cannot say. Walt says well, and that he'll ask him again, and he asks Henry again how he knows that. Henry tells Walt that he wanted to help him and now he has, and Henry tries to just leave it at that. Walt doesn't let him though, and he asks Henry what he's gotten himself into, and he asks again who gave him the name Shane Muldoon. Henry reluctantly gives in and tells Walt that it was Nighthorse. Walt says so Nighthorse has a relationship with this guy, the head of the Irish mob. Henry says that Malachi may be more crooked here than Nighthorse. Walt argues that Nighthorse hired Malachi, so he says whatever Malachi does is on Nighthorse, because he insists that Nighthorse has got to know about it. and Walt says the one thing he's learned through all these depositions is that if you're at the top, then you're held responsible. then Walt adamantly tells Henry that Nighthorse is going down, and he turns to leave. Henry stops Walt by telling him that he cannot bring Nighthorse down yet. Walt asks why not. Henry says that Nighthorse promised to get him his bar back. Walt says oh, Henry, in disappointment that Henry would make a deal with Nighthorse. Henry says please. Walt says he can't wait long, and he tells Henry he better figure it out fast. Henry nods and then Walt leaves.

back at the sheriff's station, Dave is telling Walt that going forward they need to make sure all the witnesses they call have detailed accounts… but Walt interrupts Dave by yelling his name. Dave says yeah. Walt says this civil suit is not about whether or not he did the right thing, and that it's about negotiating lies, and that he doesn't know how to play that game, so he says he wants to settle. Dave tells Walt not to be thrown by these depositions, and he says Tucker just delayed those witnesses to put pressure on him so that Walt would settle. Walt reminds Dave that he was the one who told him to settle in the first place. Dave argues that was before he saw Tucker's game, and he says now he can't stand Tucker's good-old-boy bullying. Dave tells Walt that he is very good at what he does, and he says now that he sees how this is going to be played, he says he thinks they should keep fighting, because he says he thinks they can win. Walt says he doesn't care about winning, and that all he cares about is being able to get back to doing his job. Walt says this lawsuit is like a restraining order that's keeping him from being effective. Dave argues that they can do this and also get Walt back to doing his job normally.

Walt cuts him off and says the people did not elect him to protect himself, and that right now heroin is pouring into his county, and that a murderer is on the loose, and that a mob boss thinks he can move in, so Walt says he has work to do. Dave relents and tells Walt ok, and he says if this is what Walt really wants. Walt nods and says it is. Dave says alright then, and he tells Walt that he is insured by Absaroka county for $250,000, and he says that's $250,000 more than what the Barlow Connally estate deserves, but he says so be it. then Dave goes to leave, but Walt calls him back for a second to shake his hand, so they shake hands, and Walt tells Dave, thanks bud. then Dave nods and leaves. after Dave is gone, Walt goes to sit down behind his desk wearily. then Vic comes in to tell Walt that she tried finding the address of manifest destinations on the internet, but that all she could find was a vacant lot next to a bar in Boston. in response, Walt just tells her that he is going to take the next couple of days off, as he is feeling depressed over having decided to give up the fight and agree to settle this damn civil suit that has already become just about his worst nightmare.


	19. 19

while Walt is at home, Cady calls his landline. Walt answers it, and Cady says she needs to ask him for a favor. Walt asks what's that. Cady asks him if he would like to come along with her while she delivers a restraining order, referring to the fact that she finally got Asha to reluctantly agree to file one against JP, and Cady tries to explain by saying there's a white guy who lives on the res and he... but Walt is disinterested, and he cuts her off by asking her why she needs him. Cady says she thinks it might have more impact coming from a sheriff. Walt says he has a better idea, and he tells her that she should just quit. Cady says, dad, come on, and Walt tells her that she can run errands for Nighthorse, but that he won't. Cady argues that she's really trying to help people here. Walt tells her she should know that she's being paid with dirty money, which he says is money from drugs and prostitution. Cady says wow, and that those are some pretty big accusations, and she asks if he has any proof of that. Walt indignantly says spoken like a true lawyer, since the truth is that he really has no solid evidence of what he just said, although Walt refuses to admit it. then Walt just tells Cady that he'll talk to her later, because he says he has something he has to do. then Walt hangs up on Cady.

meanwhile, Dave goes to see Tucker at his home, and finds him practicing golf in his back yard. Dave tells him that he has some news which he says he is sure Tucker will be glad to hear. Tucker asks what's that. Dave enthusiastically says that his client, Walter Longmire, wants to settle. Tucker smiles and nods, saying uh-huh, but he doesn't look especially interested in Dave's revelation. Dave goes on to say that it dawned on Walt what a pain in the ass this lawsuit is going to be, so Dave says it’s not worth his time, and Dave says that Tucker wants maximized value for the estate he represents, and that Walt just wants to get back to work.

Tucker asks him what number he was thinking, money-wise. Dave says $250,000. Tucker laughs and says that's exactly what the county is covered for under their insurance policy. Dave says that's right, so he says everybody wins, and he says he will draft the paperwork, and Dave turns to leave. Tucker stops him by saying don't bother. Dave asks pardon. Tucker says Dave heard him, and then he repeats don't bother. Tucker says Walt Longmire is not concerned about the hassle, and that Walt is just concerned about losing, and he says now that Dave and Walt both understand the case he has, then they both understand that he can get a lot more money, so Tucker says that settlement is off the table. Tucker goes on to say that the good people of Absaroka deserve to hear this evidence in court, and that the citizens of this county deserve to know what kind of sheriff they elected, and he says when they do, that they're going to realize that poor Barlow Connally deserves a hell of a lot more than $250,000. then Tucker tells Dave to excuse him so that he can get back to practicing his golf.


	20. 20

Cady winds up going to JP's place of work to deliver the restraining order to him by herself, because she knows that he will be forced to stay calm about it while he's at work, so that he can avoid getting fired for having a violent outburst, and Cady also manages to convince Asha to avoid contact with JP... the next day, Cady is at her office on the res with Asha, getting ready to take Asha to Henry's place for better protection against JP, since Cady convinced Henry to take Asha in for a little while until things with JP cool down. however, before they can leave, Cora is called to the casino by Jacob to deal with another problematic patron who is threatening people there. so Cora quickly leaves for the casino, and JP, who was just watching and waiting in his truck a few blocks away, seizes the opportunity to attack the legal aid clinic in a drunken rage as soon as he sees Cora in his binoculars take off in her own truck, and JP brings his pistol with him to threaten both Cady and Asha while Cora is gone.

Cady is subsequently forced to use the rifle that Jacob gave her to shoot JP in self-defense, but she only barely manages to get the gun loaded in time, because she didn't bother to look into that ahead of time, even though she did at least bother to keep the rifle at the office in an easily accessible place. Cady and Asha both survive the encounter thanks to Cady, since JP did actually fire his gun at Cady, but luckily for both Cady and Asha, he missed, before Cady finally stopped him by shooting him with her own gun. Asha is worried about her husband though, who was sent to the hospital, because Asha is still in love with him despite his wanton abuse. 

after Cady calls Jacob to tell him what happened, Jacob immediately sends Cora, along with Kevin Morris, one of Jacob's best lawyers, to support Cady at the tribal police station where she is brought in by Mathias to have Cady give her statement. Jacob decides to send Cora along with Kevin just in case anyone would try to retaliate against Cady for shooting JP, and he feels bad about pulling Cora away from the legal aid clinic when it turned out that she was needed there the most. so Cora and Kevin go in to the police station to see Cady, and Cady is shocked to see Kevin, because she remembers him being the same guy who yelled at her and made her cry when she quit her job at his law firm not so long ago.

******

back before Cady had developed any semblance of trust in Jacob, she had found out, after the fact, that the new law firm in town that she had just accepted a job offer at worked for Jacob's casino, and Cady felt like she had to quit the job immediately upon learning that fact, due to her dead mother's opposition to the casino, as well as her father's opposition to Jacob personally, although Cady was sure not to mention that second part out loud. Kevin had gotten angry with Cady and berated her for quitting for what he saw as such a stupid reason, and then they had an argument about her trying to carry out her notes that she made on one of their cases against Barlow Connally, and Kevin had to remind Cady what a nondisclosure agreement is, which only made him even more angry, and he told her good luck defending herself against being sued for violating it on a waitress's salary, since he knew that Cady would have to go back to working at the Red Pony after losing her job at his firm.

as a result of Kevin's harsh words, and even harsher tone of voice, Cady had dropped her notepad on the floor in front of Kevin's desk, and she had left the building in tears, because in addition to having just lost the best job she would ever be able to find in Absaroka, there was also important information in her notepad that she had gleaned from the law firm's case files on big pines timber vs. Connally enterprises. Cady knew that this information was important to her father's investigation into the recent murder of Branch Connally, who was one of Walt's deputies, and who was also Cady's boyfriend for a while, because Cady knew that big pines timber was owned by Jacob Nighthorse, and his company was suing Barlow's company for a breach of contract. Cady found that odd, because it meant that Jacob and Barlow, who was Branch's father, were business partners, rather than sworn enemies like everyone in the county believed.

but Cady had assumed at the time that this information meant that Jacob would have more of a motive to kill Branch if he was suing Barlow for something, because at that time, neither Cady nor her father had the faintest clue that it was really Barlow who had murdered Branch, his own son, because Branch had discovered that his father Barlow was the one who had ordered the hit on Martha, who was Walt's wife and Cady's mother, which had resulted in Martha being murdered. and although they did eventually learn that, after Walt had sort of a showdown with Barlow at his cabin, which Barlow lost along with his life, Jacob was naturally already one of Walt's prime suspects for both Martha's and Branch's murders before that happened.

******

in a private room at the tribal police station, Cady tries to tell Kevin to leave because she doesn't want him as her lawyer for obvious reasons, but Kevin is totally over the argument he had with Cady before, and he really wants to defend her in this case for Jacob, because he is very loyal to Jacob. Kevin argues that Cady isn't going to find anyone else half as good as him to make sure she gets cleared of the shooting. Cady is in such a poor emotional state at this time that she decides not to argue with Kevin, plus she knows she should probably get over what happened before with him since she ultimately wound up going to work for Jacob after all, which she realizes is pretty ironic. while Kevin talks with Cady to go over their options, suddenly Asha barges into the room screaming about JP dying at the hospital and accusing Cady of murdering him. Asha flails around wildly and pushes herself past Kevin to launch herself directly at Cady and physically attack her in a hysterical rage.

Cora, who was standing quietly against a wall in the room to give Kevin and Cady some space, quickly moves to intervene and lunge into the fray to pull Asha off of Cady while Kevin stands back to get out of her way. Asha continues to fight to get at Cady anyway, but Cora keeps a hold of her, although she has to really hold back the urge to slap Asha silly, as Cora can hardly believe how this stupid girl is reacting to her psychotic husband's totally justified death, as Cora sees it. Cora drags Asha out of the room to give her to Mathias, while Kevin goes to help Cady up off the floor, since Asha had knocked Cady down right before Cora could react in time to stop her, because Asha's attack was so unexpected. Asha kicks and screams against Cora as well as all of the tribal police officers who rush over to the doorway of the room to help get Asha under control.

Cora tries not to use her powers on Asha, because she doesn't want to get in trouble for hurting her, but Cora gets angry at Asha's continued flailing, and she slings Asha forcefully at Mathias for him to deal with her before Cora really loses her cool, and she angrily yells at Mathias to get this dumb bitch the hell out of here before Asha gets hurt. Mathias manages to catch Asha without being knocked over, but just barely, and then he does what he is told without bothering to argue with Cora about who's in charge around here, choosing instead to heed Cora's warning after seeing how angry she is, and having at least some suspicions of what she is really capable of. also the last thing Mathias needs is a murder happening inside his own police station, because that would make him look pretty bad, and he already has enough trouble getting people to take him seriously on the res. and then there is also the fact that he really has his hands full with Asha now as it is, and he knows he really doesn't have time to argue with anyone but Asha right now.

when Cora goes back into the room with Kevin and Cady to see if Cady is alright, Cora sees that Cady is crying and Kevin is trying to comfort her, but it's not doing a lot of good, because Cady still doesn't like Kevin, even though he's being pretty nice to her now, and Cady is even more upset about shooting JP now that she knows that Asha totally hates her for it. Cora tells Cady not to listen to Asha, because Cora says Asha clearly has some kind of Stockholm's Syndrome or something, so she says Asha is not right in the head. Cora also tells Cady that she is sorry for not being there for her when Cady needed her, and Cora says she should have just stayed at Cady's office like Cady asked her to. 

Cady can tell Cora feels pretty bad about this, and she tells Cora it's not her fault, and thanks her for being on her side, especially since Cora was at least able to stop Asha from doing any serious physical harm to Cady in here when Asha attacked her. Cora says she is glad that Cady was able to do what she had to do to defend herself from JP while Cora says she was away dealing with a problem at the casino, and Cady just nods in acceptance. then Kevin says that even without Asha's support, that he will still have no trouble building a castle doctrine defense for Cady, so he says he feels very confident that he can make sure that Cady won't get charged for killing JP.


	21. 21

Walt goes to Jacob's house, because Jacob actually called him for some reason. when Walt pulls up, he finds that Jacob is standing out in his driveway talking on his cellphone, and then Jacob gets off the phone when he sees Walt pull up. when Walt gets out of his truck, Jacob tells him that it took him long enough. Walt says he had to drive from Sheridan, and he asks Jacob what's so urgent. Jacob says it's out back. Walt follows Jacob to his backyard, and Jacob bends down to pick something up off the ground right next to his swimming pool, which is a $100 casino chip from his own casino. Jacob tells Walt that someone left hundred-dollar chips out here like a trail of breadcrumbs. Walt asks leading to what. as Jacob wipes off the chip he picked up and pockets it, he tells Walt that he will show him. 

then Jacob leads Walt to follow the trail of the remaining chips to where it ends at his stone meditation circle. inside the center of the circle and staked to the ground there is an Irish flag. Jacob tells Walt the stake is his, but that the flag is not. Walt looks at the foreign text printed on the flag and says this is Gaelic. Jacob says yeah, and he pronounces the text, showing that he's familiar with it, and he says it means "our day will come". Walt says it's an IRA slogan, referring to the Irish mob. Jacob says yeah, and he says it's a message from Boston. Walt suspiciously asks Jacob why his mob partners are threatening him.

Jacob scoffs in frustration at the accusation and says they are not his partners, he says again, and he tells Walt that he just sent a very clear message to them that they're not welcome in his casino, because he says he canceled all the pending reservations for manifest destinations, and he says this would seem to be their response. Walt asks Jacob why did he call him, and asks why didn't he call Mathias or Malachi. Jacob says that, as Walt once pointed out, his home is technically in Walt's county, and not on the reservation, and Jacob admits that he doesn't have complete confidence in his own security detail right now. Walt asks Jacob why he should believe him, and asks how does he know Jacob didn't just stage this like he did with David Ridges' funeral pyre. Walt says that would be a pretty good way to convince him that Jacob is cutting ties with the mob. 

Jacob tells Walt this was not an easy call for him to make. Walt asks what is it that he wants. Jacob angrily grabs his stake to pull it out of the ground so he can reach down and snatch the flag up. after doing so, Jacob sticks his stake back into the ground where it was, and then he folds the flag up while telling Walt that he wants protection. Jacob then hands the folded flag over to Walt, who reaches out to take a hold of it. but before letting go of the flag himself, Jacob adamantly tells Walt that he wants to stay alive, then he releases the flag to let Walt take it.

******

around this time, Henry is driving over to Cady's office and talking on his cellphone while leaving a message on Cady's answering machine. in the message, Henry tells Cady that he was expecting her two hours ago with her friend, and he says this is not like her, and he says he is on his way over. then Henry passes an ambulance on the road, which has it's lights and siren on as it's driven in the opposite direction from Cady's office. when Henry gets there, he sees a crowd of people from the neighborhood milling around just outside of Cady's office. Henry gets out of his truck and goes to ask one of the people what happened here. the guy tells Henry that somebody got shot. Henry asks him if he knows who. the guy just says the cops came and took some people away. Henry goes to the front door of Cady's office to find that it has been broken down, then Henry walks inside to see that there is a pool of blood surrounded by some bloody rags and bandages on the floor, but he sees that no one else is there now. so Henry calls Walt at the sheriff's station to tell him that something bad has happened to Cady, although he is not sure what that is yet, but he is sure that it has something to do with JP, who Cady had already told him about.

a little bit later, Kevin and Cora are still at the tribal police station with Cady, while Cady is allowing one of the officers on duty there to take a DNA sample from her, by letting him rub a cotton swab on the inside of her mouth. Cady agreed to this in order to show her cooperation with the police, since Kevin told Cady that will help her case. then Walt comes stomping into the tribal police station, after having been told about what happened to his daughter by Henry, since Cady never actually bothered to call Walt about it. Cady didn't call her dad because Walt has been upset with her for going to work for Jacob, who Walt hates, and also because Cady did try to call Walt before to get his help with serving the restraining order against JP, that Cady got Asha to agree to file back when Asha still wanted protection from her husband, but Walt had blown Cady off by saying that he didn't want anything to do with helping her run errands for Nighthorse. Walt angrily barges into the room where Cady is, ordering everyone to get away from Cady like he owns her.

Kevin calmly introduces himself to Walt as Cady's lawyer, and he also mentions that he represents Jacob Nighthorse's concerns, and that Mr. Nighthorse sent him and Cora, who Kevin identifies to Walt as the legal aid clinic's security guard, when he says that Cady called Mr. Nighthorse to report her situation to him. this revelation doesn't help Walt's mood in the slightest, so Walt refuses to shake Kevin's hand when Kevin offers it to him. Cora decides to stay back from Walt and let Cady deal with her father the way she sees fit. then Mathias comes in and asks the other officer in the room, who was taking Cady's DNA sample, if he got everything he needs. the officer tells Mathias yes sir, so Mathias tells Cady that she is free to go, and that they will be in touch tomorrow, then Mathias leaves the room. Kevin offers to give Cady a ride home, but Walt interjects to say that he will do that himself, without bothering to ask Cady what she wants. Cady is too tired to argue with anyone about anything right now, especially her father, so she just lets Walt have his way for now. Kevin agrees to leave Cady with her father, and he leaves the police station to go to work on Cady's defense strategy by himself.

then Walt gives Cora a dirty look and suspiciously asks her what she is here for. Cora reiterates what Kevin already told Walt, by calmly explaining that she is one of Jacob's security guards who was sent to help Kevin look after Cady here at the police station until the cops were done processing her. Cora does not bother to offer her hand to Walt though, not after seeing how he treated Kevin, but she holds her head high and doesn't let Walt intimidate her. Walt is dismayed to see that Nighthorse has indeed hired Cora as a security guard just like Malachi told him, but Walt is even more dismayed to find out that Nighthorse sent Cora to supposedly look after his daughter. Walt decides to just ignore Cora for now though, and he turns to Cady to ask her in an accusatory tone why Nighthorse would think she needed a security guard here, and he asks her where was this security guard earlier when Cady was being attacked in her office. Cady just tells Walt in an irritated tone of voice to lay off already, because she says she is too tired to argue right now, and that she just wants to go home and go to sleep.

Walt chooses to continue ignoring Cora after that, and Cora certainly has no intention of complaining about that, but when Cady follows her father out of the room, Cora unobtrusively follows Cady to at least make sure that Cady makes it out of the police station in one piece. as it turns out, for some reason, Asha has been let out of whatever room she was supposed to be locked in, and as soon as she sees Cady in the lobby, Asha starts screaming at Cady again, accusing Cady of being a murderer, and Asha starts flailing again when one of the cops grabs her to keep her from lunging at Cady again. Cora snarls at Asha and lunges for her, to grab her and yank her away from the cop who was rather feebly trying to hold on to Asha out in the lobby, then Cora drags Asha into the nearest room she can find to get her out of Cady's sight. Cady ignores this and tries to push thoughts of Asha and JP out of her mind while Walt continues to lead Cady out of the police station in order to drive her home.

once Cora sees that she has Asha to herself for a bit, Cora throws her into a corner and berates her for being such a stupid backstabbing cunt. Asha starts to calm down enough to get herself under control when she sees how furious Cora is at her, and that Cora might want to seriously hurt her, and Asha gets the sense that Cora could probably do that pretty easily. since Asha isn't trying to fight anymore, Cora stands back from her, but Cora can't resist rather cruelly telling Asha how she wishes that JP had killed her after all, because she says that Asha was never worth Cady's time or effort, and that because of Asha, Cady's own life was endangered, and that she had to defend herself with lethal force. Cora also tells Asha that she should be grateful that Cady saved her life too, but that it was more important for Cady to defend herself at that point from Asha's stupid crazy husband, and Cora says if Asha is going to turn on Cady for that, then Cora says Asha can go fuck herself until she finds another wife beater to smack her around, since she says that's obviously what Asha likes. Asha refuses to answer Cora, and Asha just goes quiet as she sulks in the corner feeling sorry for herself.

then Mathias comes in to tell Cora to get away from Asha, and he is angry at Cora for yelling at Asha like that, especially when some of the things he heard Cora say were pretty darn awful, because even though Mathias knows that Asha is being very irrational right now, he also knows that she is an abused woman who is very traumatized, and he is surprised that Cora would only exacerbate Asha's condition by berating her like that. then Cora turns on Mathias to angrily berate him for letting Asha get back out there to harass Cady again, and she says she thinks maybe Mathias should be sued for some kind of negligence since he can't even keep control of one stupid crazy bitch after she just assaulted someone in his own police station, so Cora asks Mathias what kind of cop is he really, clearly suggesting that she doesn't think he is much of one. Mathias is embarrassed at being told by a security guard how to do his job as a police chief, but instead of trying to argue with Cora and just making things worse, he instead chooses to stay civil, and he asks Cora to please just leave his police station now, because he tells Cora that she is no longer needed here now that Cady has left. Cora gives Mathias a dirty look, but she goes ahead and leaves without saying anything else, deciding that she had better get out of there now before she does something to really get herself in trouble.


	22. 22

at Cady's house, Cady gets herself cleaned up and then goes straight to bed. after she gets into her bed, Walt walks into her bedroom to bring Cady a cup of tea that he just made for her, and he tells her to be careful because it's hot. Cady says thank you as Walt sets the teacup down for her on her nightstand next to her bed. Cady tells Walt that she really appreciates him taking her home. Walt asks Cady why she didn't call him, since it was Henry who called him to tell him what Henry had managed to find out about what had happened to her. Cady says the shooting happened on the res, so she says it made sense for her to call Jacob. Walt says that Nighthorse is the one who put her in danger in the first place, because he says that's what Nighthorse does, and that he lures people into situations where they get hurt, and Walt complains that nobody can ever tie him to it.

Cady tells Walt that he can stop blaming Jacob, because she says it was JP Wright who attacked her, and she says she is lucky that she had Jacob's gun. Walt asks Cady if Nighthorse gave her a gun. Cady nods to affirm that. Walt accusingly says, so Nighthorse knew he was putting Cady at risk. Cady explains that it's a Cheyenne gesture of trust, which she says is something that Walt could use a little bit more of himself. Walt tells Cady not to be so naive, because he insists that Nighthorse is not her friend, and that he's the last one she should count on. Cady tells Walt that she wanted to count on him, and she reminds him of how she asked him to help her serve that restraining order against JP Wright, and how Walt turned her down and just told her to quit. Walt says if she had listened to him then none of this would have happened. Cady gets upset and says ok, and that she is really tired, and that she just wants to go to sleep. then Cady lays down and Walt says ok, then he goes over to fix Cady's covers around her shoulders, and he turns off her lamp for her before leaving.

******

soon after leaving the tribal police station, Cora calls Jacob on the phone to give him an update on the situation with Cady. after Cora explains most of what happened at the tribal police station, Jacob orders her to stay at the legal aid clinic with Cady full time from now on, no matter what happens at the casino, at least until he can find another security guard he trusts enough to help out with the guard duty at Cady's office. Jacob tells Cora to do this even though he recently found an IRA flag staged on his property as some kind of warning, but Jacob decides not to tell Cora about that right now, as he wants her to focus on protecting Cady, plus he managed to convince Walt to hire Eamonn O'Niell, a deputy from Cumberland county who had worked temporarily for Walt in the past, to act as a bodyguard for Jacob, since Jacob had complained to Walt about the IRA flag, which was planted in his back yard, right in the middle of Jacob's meditation circle. Cora readily agrees to do what Jacob asked, to go back to guarding the legal aid clinic full time, since she is now also pretty worried about Cady's safety, considering everything that just happened to Cady. so Cora doesn't see fit to question Jacob about that, since she currently knows practically nothing about Jacob's escalating troubles with both Malachi and the Irish mob.

when Cady goes back to work at her office on the res, she finds a whole bunch of people are now wanting her help with their legal issues all of a sudden, just because the news got around that Cady had killed a white man. Cady hates the reason why she is suddenly getting all this attention, but her self-appointed assistant, Mandy, who is a young Indian woman who lives on the res, convinces Cady to just accept this for what it is, and be glad that she's actually getting some business now at least. when Mandy sees that Cady is still not happy, she tells Cady that they can't put that toothpaste back in the tube, so Cady relents and decides to get to work.

Kevin does what he promised, and he easily gets Cady fully cleared of the shooting of JP Wright, and he goes to Cady's office to give her the good news in person. Cora nods amiably at Kevin to let him enter Cady's office when he approaches the entrance where Cora is patiently standing guard. Kevin nods back at Cora and smiles at her before going inside to see Cady, since he is glad to see Cora is there to help protect Cady at Jacob's behest, especially after the way he saw Cora handle Asha at the tribal police station when Asha was attacking Cady. Kevin is glad that it wasn't him who had to deal with the physical altercation, so he thinks Jacob was smart to send Cora in there with him that day. Cady still doesn't like Kevin and probably never will, not when she knows how his bad side can get, but she is grateful for his help anyway, since he did do what he said he would, and she thanks him for it, although she is still very emotionally hurt over the whole incident with Asha and JP. before he leaves, Kevin tells Cady that he will be ready to defend her again the next time she has legal troubles here on the res, and he tells her that he expects that will happen again soon enough, because that's life on the res.


	23. 23

meanwhile, Henry finally manages to find Malachi's secret financial ledger at the Red Pony, which was hidden inside the backing of a framed movie poster in the Red Pony's office, and Henry goes to Jacob's house to bring him the book as he had promised. now that Jacob has the proof he needs to use as leverage against Malachi, Jacob decides to have Henry help him perform a banishment ritual to kick Malachi out of the Cheyenne tribe, and off of their reservation for good, as well as force Malachi to sign the deed of the Red Pony back over to Henry, to get Henry's bar back for him just as Jacob promised him he would. Henry agrees to go along with Jacob's plan when Jacob explains it to him, although they agree they will have to wait for the right opportunity to abduct Malachi in order to successfully carry out this plan.

soon after Henry leaves Jacob's house to go back to the Red Pony, Jacob is sitting down in his living room and taking a look through some of the pages that he took out of the ledger that Henry had just brought him, when Jacob decides to make a phone call to Henry. Jacob says hey to Henry, when Henry picks up, and Jacob asks him if Malachi is there right now, knowing that Henry is already back at the Red Pony by then. Henry is in the bar's office at the time, and he is working on putting the rest of the ledger back where he found it, and he tells Jacob no, that Malachi is not there, and that he has actually not seen him in a couple of days. Jacob asks Henry if he thinks Malachi knows that the ledger was missing. Henry says no, and he says that Malachi never will. Jacob says good.

then through the windows in his living room, Jacob sees Walt walking around in his back yard with Eamonn, and Jacob stands up out of his chair to watch them, and he tells Henry that he's going to have to call him back. Jacob hangs up the phone and quickly goes outside to speak with Walt and Eamonn. Jacob asks what's up, gentlemen, as he approaches the other two men, and he asks them where they are going. Walt tells Jacob that he is taking Eamonn off this security detail, because Walt smugly claims that there is no threat against Jacob's life. Walt tells Jacob that he just got back from talking with his friend, the one who called himself Dennis Wabash, and Walt says the guy told him that he was the one who ended his business arrangement with Jacob, as opposed to the other way around, referring to the conversation that Walt had with Jacob previously about his involvement with the Irish mob, back when Jacob had called Walt about the IRA flag being planted on his property. Walt says it seems that if anybody would be likely to kill, then it would most probably be Jacob.

Jacob gets irritated and says ok, and he explains that Dennis Wabash, which Jacob says while making air quotes with his fingers, called him at work asking to meet at a Sheridan motel, which Jacob describes as a call from a dead man, since he admits that the real Dennis Wabash, who was Jacob's friend back in college, had killed himself back in the early '80's. and Jacob says if that's not a threat then he doesn't know what it is, and that whoever that man was who Walt spoke to was lying to him. Walt says no, and he accuses Jacob of being the one who is lying, because Walt says first Jacob neglected to tell him that he was old friends with an Irish mob boss, and then that Jacob left out the fact that the mob boss is here in town and trying to contact him. Walt says that he is honestly tired of Jacob's denials about his arrangements with organized crime, and Walt angrily says that he's done and starts walking away, and Eamonn follows him.

Jacob stops them by angrily telling Walt that there is no arrangement, and that he doesn't know what he has to do to get that through to him. Jacob says that he and that guy, referring to the mob boss, were friends decades ago, and that yes, the IRA and the American Indian Movement had common cause, because Jacob says both of them were trying to overthrow their occupiers, but Jacob insists that he left all of that behind after Dennis killed himself, and that when his other friend from the IRA contacted him a year ago to suggest a partnership with the casino, Jacob says that he flew out to Foxwoods specifically to tell him no. then Jacob reminds Walt that he himself saw him getting off the plane when he got back, since Jacob clearly remembers that Walt was suspiciously waiting out there for him to land that day.

Walt argues that nobody flies all the way across the country to tell someone no, and that Jacob's friend is operating out of Four Arrows, and pouring heroin into Absaroka, and Walt angrily yells, "his county", in Jacob's face. then Walt smugly says the only reason that Jacob has just pulled out now is because he, Walt, threatened to give the mob boss's name to the FBI himself. Jacob angrily says good god, the great white ego rides again, and he mockingly asks Walt if he really believes that he himself is the reason that this guy is leaving. Walt shouts back that's right, and that he thinks Jacob knew that. Jacob yells that's wrong. Walt says so there is no threat against Jacob's life, and that he actually thinks Jacob arranged this whole thing just to get him out of the way so that Jacob could resume his profitable arrangement with his old friend. Jacob argues that even for Walt, that is ridiculous.

at that point, Eamonn, who has been standing quietly by this entire time, finally speaks up to say ok, and he tells Walt and Jacob that the two of them obviously have some stuff to work out, so Eamonn says that he is going to go wait in the car, then Eamonn starts to walk away. just then, someone fires a shot from somewhere else on the property, and the bullet hits Eamonn in the calf. Eamonn falls into the swimming pool while Walt and Jacob both drop to the ground to take cover behind some potted shrubs next to the pool. Walt and Jacob both draw their pistols while they are still laying on the ground, and Jacob goes prone and starts returning fire at whoever is shooting at them, then Walt does the same thing with his own pistol. after firing off several rounds, 

Jacob gets up into a crouching position and tells Walt to cover him, then Jacob stands up and runs out into the yard while continuing to fire his pistol at the assailants, who are hiding back in the woods at the edge of Jacob's property. Eamonn is still in the pool and he's starting to have trouble keeping his head above the water, so he calls out to Walt for help. Walt decides to ignore Jacob in favor of helping Eamonn, and Walt jumps into the pool to rescue Eamonn. while Walt is helping Eamonn get to the side of the pool, Eamonn tells Walt that the next time he's thinking of calling him for a favor, he says just don't, and although Eamonn doesn't sound terribly angry about it, he isn't exactly joking there. by the time Walt gets Eamonn to the side of the pool, Jacob is back, since the shooters escaped without landing anymore of their shots, and Jacob helps by pulling Eamonn up out of the water while Walt climbs out of the pool himself.

******

later on, Walt takes his deputy, Archie Ferguson, better known as "The Ferg", with him to look around Jacob's property for clues about the shooting that just happened there. Walt tells Ferg that he can't believe he's saying this, but he says he's starting to think that Nighthorse was telling the truth. Ferg says that Walt did say that Nighthorse returned fire, so he says it hardly makes sense for him to do that if he was setting Walt up. Walt says yep, and that Nighthorse pursued the shooters all the way back here, as Walt and Ferg walk together to the woods at the edge of Jacob's property. as they enter the trees to look around in there, Ferg sees something on the ground nearby and points it out to Walt. Walt looks down to see it's a pile of spent bullet casings. Walt stands there and looks back toward Jacob's house, and he says this is a nice direct line of sight.

Ferg asks Walt if he's thinking that this really was the mob. Walt asks Ferg how many men attacked him on the road, referring to the time back when Ferg got ambushed by the mob when he was transporting one of the mobsters they managed to capture earlier, Eddie Harp, in the attack that the mob had apparently orchestrated in order to help Eddie escape from police custody, while Eddie was on his way to being delivered to the FBI, which they successfully pulled off, since Ferg was by himself, and was hardly a match for a bunch of gunmen who were all armed with automatic assault rifles. Ferg says there were eight of them. Walt repeats the word eight as he realizes that something doesn't add up here. Walt doesn't realize it yet, but it was really some of Malachi's men who had carried out the shooting here, as opposed to the Irish mob, although Malachi and the Irish mob are working together, and it was also Malachi who had the IRA flag planted on Jacob's property earlier, just to screw with him.


	24. 24

Henry goes to the tribal police office to tell Mathias he needs a favor, and he asks Mathias for Cady's rifle, which Mathias still has in his possession in his office. Mathias says no can do, because he claims it's evidence. Henry tells Mathias that he is not required to hold a weapon used in self-defense. Mathias asks Henry if he's a lawyer now on top of being Hector, since Mathias knows about Henry taking up Hector's mantle, since Hector was recently killed, and Mathias has actually been using that knowledge to blackmail Henry into becoming his own personal mercenary. Henry says that he has done a lot of favors for Mathias, referring to his vigilante work that he has been doing at Mathias's request, and he says he is now asking Mathias for one in return. Mathias grumbles about it, but he gets up and grabs the rifle to hand it to Henry. Henry takes the rifle and says that he is going to return it to its rightful owner, meaning Cady.

Mathias tells Henry that he might want to hang onto it for himself, because he says he's heard a rumor that there is a bounty on Hector's head, and he asks Henry if he's aware of this. Henry asks Mathias why he thinks he's been laying low, and he says the bounty is up to $20,000. Mathias jokes that for that much money, he might start thinking about killing Henry himself. Henry says that is not funny, and Mathias says sure it is. then Mathias asks if Henry has any idea who wants Hector dead. Henry says no, but that he does know someone who will want Henry dead pretty soon. Mathias asks why and what did Henry do this time. Henry says it does not concern Mathias, and he thanks him for the rifle. as Henry turns to leave, Mathias says that now Henry owes him another favor.

******

at the sheriff's station, Walt is holding one of the bags containing the spent bullet casings they collected from Jacob's property, and he tells both of his deputies that there were two dozen casings in the woods, all in one pile, and that's compared to the 90 casings they found where Eddie Harp was taken, which he says were scattered all over the pavement. Walt says the mob sent eight men to extract Eddie, and that as far as he can tell, there was just one shooter sent to Nighthorse's house to kill either him or himself. Walt says this mob boss would never send one guy for this job, because Walt says this guy is careful and likes to minimize his risk, and Walt says he knows that much about him. Vic asks Walt if he doesn't think that the attack at Nighthorse's house was a mob hit. Walt says it just doesn't fit their style, plus he says Nighthorse said he never had a deal with the mob, even though he says the mob swears they did. Ferg asks so which one is lying. Walt says maybe neither of them is lying, as he finally thinks to consider Malachi as a suspect.

when Walt goes to the Red Pony to talk to Malachi, Malachi is leaving the bar to get to his SUV that's parked just outside. after Malachi opens the door of his vehicle, Walt stops him by pushing the door closed before Malachi could get in. Malachi complains at Walt, saying oh come on, and he says that he just washed his car and now Walt is putting his big greasy fingerprints all over it, and Malachi uses a tissue from his jacket to wipe off the door. Walt tells Malachi that he spotted this car, referring to Malachi's vehicle, in Sheridan the other night. Malachi uses an exaggerated Indian accent to sarcastically ask if there's anything illegal about Indians being in Sheridan. Walt says nope, but he says there is something awfully coincidental about Malachi being at the same motel in Sheridan where the head of the Irish mob is staying, and Walt shows Malachi a security camera photo of his SUV parked in the parking lot of the motel. Malachi says yeah, and that he was once in the same restaurant as Susan Lucci, and he jokingly asks if that means he should be nominated for a Daytime Emmy.

Walt goes on to reveal that he found a record of Malachi flying out to the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut, where the mob boss is rumored to work, and with that, Walt also shows Malachi a document to prove what he just said. Walt says that was just two days after Nighthorse went to see him, and Walt asks Malachi if he wants to know what he thinks. Malachi fiddles with his nails like he is bored and says no. Walt says he thinks Nighthorse told Malachi that he turned down the Irish mob, and then Malachi flew back out there to make his own deal. Walt says that would explain why the mob said they had a deal with the casino and why Nighthorse said they didn't, because Walt says Nighthorse knew nothing about it. Malachi tells Walt that he is making him sound like a movie villain, jetting out to meet the mob, selling out his own boss, and he mockingly claims that he's not that smart. Walt says he never said that Malachi was smart, but Walt says he does think that Malachi had his own side deal with the mob, and that Malachi was pocketing all the cash, and Walt says now that they're pulling out, Malachi stands to lose a lot of money, and Walt says he bets that makes Malachi angry.

Malachi says what really makes him angry is covering for that lying half-breed Nighthorse, and he asks Walt if he really thinks that Nighthorse doesn't know what's going on inside his own casino. Malachi says this is what actually happened, and he claims that Nighthorse did say no to his IRA buddies, but that he then ordered Malachi to go back and make a deal with those dirty Irishmen, because Malachi claims that Nighthorse wanted him to deal with them and keep him out of it. Walt asks if when Malachi's car was parked outside the Sheridan motel, if he was negotiating with the mob on Nighthorse's behalf. Malachi says bingo, and that Shane told him they were pulling out, because he says Shane said he wasn't making enough money to justify the trouble he had with this damned new Hector, and of course with Walt. Walt asks Malachi if this is why he shot at Nighthorse outside his house, because Walt says Nighthorse cost Malachi a lot of money. Malachi says he could care less about that, because he claims he makes good money as the head of security, which he says is a lot more than he made as a cop. then Malachi asks Walt if he knows who does care, and he says Nighthorse. Malachi goes on to lie through his teeth by saying that Nighthorse went through the roof when he told him the mob was pulling out. Walt says it sounds to him like Malachi is just throwing Nighthorse under the bus to cover for himself.

Malachi calls Walt a bonehead, and he asks when they were being shot at, if any of the bullets hit Nighthorse's precious house. Malachi says he's guessing not, and he says come on, and he asks Walt when he is going to learn that Nighthorse is the master of the long con, and he insists that it's really Nighthorse who is throwing them all under the bus. Walt asks why he should believe any of this. Malachi asks Walt if he wants proof that Nighthorse is a criminal and a murderer, knowing full well that Walt could never for the life of him resist such a juicy temptation, and he claims that he can give Walt that proof, because he says he knows where all the bodies are buried. then Malachi tells Walt to meet him tonight and he will give him everything he needs to bring Nighthorse to his knees. Walt agrees to meet Malachi at a remote spot on the res later that night, so Walt can see what Malachi manages to give up on Jacob, if anything. because even after everything, Walt is still too quick to assume that Jacob must be dirty somehow, and Walt wants to take every opportunity he can to prove that, even if it means going along with someone as obviously dirty as Malachi, who Walt even acknowledges to himself might just be setting him up for an ambush, to try and take him out for getting too close to the truth about Malachi's own illegal activities.


	25. 25

meanwhile, Henry comes to visit Cady at her office on the res. when he gets there, he finds Cora is standing guard by the doorway as Henry approaches the building, and she recognizes him as someone who has visited Cady here before a few times, and as someone who is Cady's friend. and when she sees Henry carrying Cady's rifle, she asks him if he has come to return that to her. Henry says yes, and that he would like to present it to Cady personally, because he explains that he has added an adornment to it for her as he holds up the rifle for Cora to see. Cora sees the eagle feather that's now attached to the rifle's barrel, which she knows it didn't have on it before, and although she isn't an expert on Indian culture, Cora knows enough to know that eagle feathers are pretty significant to Jacob's people. Cora nods in approval as she gives her permission for Henry to go in and see Cady, and she continues to stand guard outside, realizing that Henry is no threat to Cady.

when Henry goes in and calls out hello, Cady recognizes Henry's voice and calls to him so he knows what room she's in. Henry goes to Cady and tells her that he heard she had a very busy day today. Cady turns to him and says yeah, and that the place was flooded with people, and she adds sadly that she's never felt so alone. Cady explains that everyone on the res now thinks that she can help them, but she says she doesn’t know that she can, since she says the last person she tried to help, she ended up killing her husband, and Cady starts to cry a little after saying that. as Cady cries, she tells Henry guiltily that she murdered someone, and then she starts to cry even harder. 

Henry goes to Cady and hugs her, and she hugs him back while she cries on his shoulder for a little while. when Henry lets her go, he brushes Cady's hair away from her face and then holds the side of her head in his palm as he tells her that she did not take a life, she saved one. then Henry shows her the rifle that he brought back for her, except now it has an eagle feather attached to the barrel, which Henry had just put on there himself after getting the rifle back from Mathias. Henry says that some in his tribe would say it's sacrilege to give an eagle feather to a white person, because he says war feathers are only supposed to be passed down in families. then Henry holds out the rifle to her and says but Cady is his family, and that when she defended Asha, Cady showed herself to be a true Cheyenne warrior. Henry holds out the rifle closer to Cady, beckoning her to take it. Cady takes it gratefully and thanks him.

then Jacob shows up at Cady's office himself, and after patting Cora on the arm in appreciation for seeing her guarding Cady's office like he asked her to, he walks in and comes over to stand by the doorway of the room where Henry and Cady are. when she sees Jacob, Cady greets him by calling his first name, and she looks surprised to see him here. Jacob tells Cady that he's sorry he couldn't get here sooner, and that he just wanted to make sure she is ok. Cady nods, and seeing that Cady is holding the rifle he gave her, Jacob says he's glad that his gift proved useful. Cady says she is sorry she had to use it. Jacob says yeah, but that sometimes force is the only thing people will listen to, and he says it can be very difficult to deal with the worst of what happens out here, but he says he knew that Cady had the strength to handle it. then Jacob asks Henry if he can see him outside for a moment. Henry nods and rubs Cady's arm for a moment before turning to go outside as Jacob asked. before he goes outside to meet Henry, Jacob tells Cady that he is proud of her, then he turns and leaves. after he's gone, Cady stands there and cries a little more, but at that point it's more so out of relief than for being upset about killing JP, as Cady feels grateful to both Henry and Jacob for showing her the support she needed, which her own father couldn't bring himself to show her.

outside Cady's office, Henry waits by his truck for Jacob to come out and join him. when Jacob gets there, he says so, it turns out JP Wright is not the only asshole going down this week. as he says this, Jacob pulls his pistol out of his waistband and raises it to rest it on his shoulder. Henry asks him what he means by that. Jacob says that Henry held up his end of the bargain, so he says it's time he held up his, referring to getting Henry's bar back for him. with that, Jacob reverses his grip on his pistol and holds it out for Henry to take it from him, and he tells Henry that he's going to need this. so Henry takes the offered pistol from Jacob, knowing that Jacob is referring to their agreement to kidnap Malachi and perform the banishment ritual on him, which Henry is more than willing to get done by now, so that he can get his bar back, if for no other reason. as Cora continues to stand next to the door of Cady's office, she sees Jacob hand Henry his pistol, and she wonders what that is about, but she figures that if Jacob wanted her to know, then he would tell her himself. and since Jacob isn't telling her about it, Cora assumes it's none of her business, although she secretly worries about Jacob and hopes that whatever he's getting himself into, that he knows what he's doing and won't get hurt. but Cora decides that she just has to trust Jacob's judgment on that, for now at least.

after Henry and Jacob's visit to her, in which both men came to show Cady their support in the aftermath of her having to shoot and kill JP, Cady starts to get over her emotional trauma of the incident, and then she starts to really enjoy working with the people on the res who now come to her office in droves to get her legal help on a regular basis. while Cora continues to stand guard at Cady's office, Mandy eventually starts to warm up to her, and even tries to make friends with her a little bit, even though Mandy really did not like Cora at first, because she told Cady she got bad vibes off her. but after what happened with JP, Mandy feels safer having some kind of guard around at least. Cora doesn't like Mandy a whole lot either, but she tolerates her, and tries not to be too mean to her whenever Mandy comes over to bug her, since she can tell that Cady likes Mandy.


	26. 26

that night, after dark, Jacob and Henry work together to kidnap Malachi and take him out into the desert on the edge of the Cheyenne res, which they luckily managed to do before Malachi got the chance to leave for his secret meeting with Walt. when they get him out there, Jacob drags Malachi out of the back of his car, while Malachi has a bag over his head and his hands are tied behind his back. Malachi struggles by flailing, but Jacob gets him out of the car anyway. then Henry comes over and takes Malachi by the arm while Jacob takes Malachi's other arm, and they both forcibly escort Malachi to the edge of the nearby cliff. when they get there, they stop, and Jacob pulls out a knife, then Jacob uses the knife to cut the rope around Malachi's neck that's holding the bag over his head, and Jacob yanks the bag off. Malachi turns around to see them both, and Henry pulls out the pistol that Jacob gave him earlier to keep Malachi at bay.

Malachi says it's funny meeting them out here. Jacob says yeah, and that he bets Malachi thought they were a final goodbye from Shane Muldoon. Malachi asks if that's what this is, a final goodbye. Jacob says it is, and he tells Malachi that it was always going to end like this. Jacob explains that he knew when he opened the casino that it was going to attract the criminal element, and that Malachi was always just meant to be a flu shot, that little bit of virus you inject into the body, so the body can learn to fight off the infection, and Jacob says now that the body's gotten stronger, it's time to get rid of the sickness once and for all.

Malachi turns to Henry and lies by telling him that he should know that this is all just for show, it's pure theater, and he says Jacob is just saying this stuff for Henry's benefit. Jacob steps closer to Malachi and says no, it's all true, and he says Malachi ordered that hit on him because Malachi knew he'd figured out his scam. Jacob says he was going to put a stop to all of it, the loan-sharking, the muggings, the prostitution, and the heroin, which Jacob says with disgust. then Jacob accuses Malachi of putting that IRA flag in his yard to make it look like the mob, and he says that he knows it was really Malachi. Malachi tells Henry see, and that he's supposed to listen to this crap and go running it over to his friend Walter lawnmower, but Malachi says Jacob doesn't realize that he's too late, because Malachi says he talked to Walt already himself, and that Walt knows that Jacob was behind this mob deal, and that Walt knows that Jacob faked that hit on himself to protect his crimes. and Malachi adds that they all know if Walt Longmire wants something to be true, then he makes it true.

Jacob calls Malachi an astounding creature, and he says he never met anyone anywhere who could lie with his shamelessness, but Jacob says at the end of the day, it's still lying, and that finally he has proof, because he says he found the second ledger from the Red Pony. Malachi asks what second ledger. Henry pulls the ledger out from the back of his waistband to hold it up and show Malachi, saying this one. Malachi lies and claims he's never seen that in his life. Henry says it was in Malachi's office at the Red Pony. Malachi says if that's true, then someone else planted it there. Jacob says no, that's the pure theater, because he says all three of them know that ledger proves that Malachi has laundered tens of thousands of dollars through the Red Pony. then Jacob says here's the situation, and he tells Malachi that he will never again set foot on this reservation, because if he does, then Jacob says he will hand that book to the feds, and then he says Malachi will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Malachi says if he's going down for this, then he's going to take Jacob right down with him, because he says nobody's going to believe that all this happened without Jacob's blessing, and then Malachi angrily calls Jacob a smug, arrogant son of a white whore. Jacob punches Malachi and knocks him down, then Jacob grabs Malachi to force him up on his knees, and Jacob holds Malachi's head in place from behind. Jacob says back when this was all Cheyenne land, banishment was the punishment for betraying one's tribe. then Jacob pulls out a knife as he goes on to say that Malachi is the worst kind of traitor, stealing from his own people, and getting his own people hooked on heroin. with that, Jacob raises the blade of his knife to press it against Malachi's right cheek, and Jacob angrily tells Malachi that he has no honor as he begins cutting a long slash into Malachi's face. Jacob says that by this mark, people will know that, and that Malachi can never come back to their homeland. then Jacob stands up and lets go of Malachi. Malachi laughs and mockingly repeats "your homeland", and he says that's a real joke, and Malachi claims to be more Indian than Jacob and Henry combined, and that he has lived on this land before either of them were born.

Henry approaches Malachi then and tells him it is not his home anymore, and Henry hands over the ledger he was still holding to give it to Jacob, who takes it from him. then Henry tells Malachi that before he goes, he needs to do one more thing, and Henry pulls a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket, along with a pen, while Jacob uses his knife to cut the ties that were binding Malachi's hands behind his back. Henry holds the paper and the pen out for Malachi and says this is the deed to the Red Pony, and Henry orders Malachi to sign his name on the deed so the bar will transfer back to him. Malachi looks at the deed and says now he knows why Henry is here, and he says Henry is just like the rest of them, petty and greedy, willing to stand by and watch Nighthorse humiliate him just to get his bar back.

Jacob continues to stand quietly behind Malachi while still holding his bloody knife in one hand and the bar ledger in his other one. as Malachi takes the pen and prepares to sign the deed, Henry angrily says that is not why he is here, and that he is here because of a boy named Mingan. Henry says Malachi knows nothing about Mingan, and that he is sure Malachi doesn't care, but he says Malachi's heroin killed his father, and that the violence and the fear and the helplessness that Malachi spread through the tribe killed Mingan, and Henry says that is why he is here, and that is why Malachi will never come back. Malachi lowers his head while Henry explains this. 

when Henry is through berating him, Malachi signs his name on the deed and hands it back to Henry, who snatches it away from him, along with the pen. as Henry walks away, Malachi laughs and says if Henry thought it was bad when he owned him, then he asks who owns him now, referring to Jacob. Malachi rests on his hands and knees on the ground and yells behind him as Henry and Jacob both leave, asking Henry again and again, who owns him now. Jacob and Henry get back into Jacob's car, with Jacob at the wheel, and they both ignore Malachi's continued outburst as they abandon him out there in the desert.

******

although Henry does get his bar back out of the deal he made with Jacob to help banish Malachi, unfortunately the banishment doesn't actually work out as well as he and Jacob had hoped it would, because Malachi goes to hide out on the Crow reservation with his gang members while amassing his resources to prepare for a counterattack. and although Jacob and Henry don't know it yet, Malachi is going to develop some very nasty plans, which he will soon have in store for the both of them.

******

that same night when Jacob and Henry abduct Malachi in order to carry out the banishment on him, Walt goes out to the remote spot on the res where Malachi told Walt to meet him. Vic follows Walt out there and asks what he's doing on the res. Walt admits to her that he is there to meet Malachi. Vic asks him why. Walt says because Malachi is either going to give him evidence to prove that Nighthorse is the one behind the criminal activity at the casino, or Malachi is going to try and kill him, and a murder attempt is all Walt says he needs to arrest Malachi. Vic sarcastically says that's great, except that Walt will be dead. Walt puts on a bullet proof vest to ease Vic's mind. when Vic sees this, she tells Walt that he's changed. Walt says yep, and that he's started to realize that doing everything the same way hasn't been working out too well.

Walt and Vic spend the entire night staking out the area on the res where Malachi said he was going to meet Walt, and they take turns sleeping in their trucks, but of course Malachi never shows up. the next morning, Vic asks Walt if he wants to continue waiting any longer. Walt says no, because he says if Malachi was going to show up, then they would have seen something by now, especially if Malachi was planning an ambush. Vic says that maybe Malachi had no intention of ambushing anyone, or giving up that evidence he said he had on Nighthorse, and she says maybe Malachi was just trying to distract them so he could skip town. Walt says either that, or someone got wind of what Malachi was planning and stopped him, as Walt suggests that Nighthorse may have done something to Malachi in order to silence him.


	27. 27

at the Red Pony, Darius is trying to use his key to unlock the door to the office, because while Malachi owned the bar, Darius was one of the guys who Malachi shared a key to it with, since Malachi had Darius helping him manage the money laundering at the Red Pony, but Darius isn't having any luck getting his key to fit in the lock. then Henry opens the door from the inside, and he tells Darius that his key does not work anymore. Darius asks why not. Henry angrily says because he changed the locks, and as he strides out of the office past Darius, he slams down a plastic bag containing the old locks onto the bar's counter. Darius says oh yeah, in a challenging tone, and he asks what's Malachi going to have to say about that. Henry says he neither knows nor cares, because he says last night Malachi signed the bar back over to him.

then Henry produces the signed deed to show Darius Malachi's signature on it, although Henry is careful to use his finger to cover a spot in the corner where some blood from Malachi's cheek had dripped onto the paper, as Henry holds it up for Darius to see. Darius asks why, and Henry tells him that is not his concern, and in fact, he says nothing that happens in this bar is Darius's concern any longer, and Henry tells Darius that he is fired as he raises a Polaroid camera to take a snapshot of him. Henry says he also reserves the right not to serve Darius as he takes the photo from the camera and tacks it up onto the message board above the cash register where a "do not serve" sign is posted along with the photos of everyone else who has been banned from the Red Pony for bad behavior. Darius looks pretty angry about this, but he leaves the bar without further protest, so that he can go and try to find out what happened to Malachi. then the bar's phone rings, and Henry answers it cheerfully with his usual greeting, "it is a beautiful day at the Red Pony and continual soiree, this is Henry", and this time he says it with a genuine smile on his face.

meanwhile, Walt and Vic go to Malachi's house to look for him, but after searching around his property, Vic says it doesn't look like he's home. Vic peeks into one of the windows of the house and then tells Walt that if Malachi did leave town, then he didn't take anything with him, since all his stuff looks untouched. Walt agrees and says not even his car, as he points to Malachi's SUV, which is still parked in his driveway. Vic suggests they run with Walt's theory that somebody got to Malachi before he could give Walt the evidence he promised to provide against Nighthorse, and Vic asks Walt what exactly Malachi was supposed to give him. Walt says proof that Nighthorse struck a deal with the Irish mob to run heroin and prostitutes through the casino, which Walt says makes Nighthorse the most likely suspect in Malachi's disappearance. Walt asks Vic to call the casino to see if Malachi is there, while he radios Ferg to have him put a track on Malachi's phone and bank records.

at the Red Pony, Henry is cheerfully serving people, reveling in the fact that he now finally owns his bar again, when Walt walks in to tell him that he's looking for Malachi, and Walt asks Henry if Malachi is here. Henry matter-of-factly says no, and that he will not be. Walt asks if Malachi has the day off. Henry says Malachi has more than that, and he reminds Walt of when he told him that Jacob was going to help him get his bar back, and he says well, it happened. Walt asks Henry how exactly did he and Nighthorse make that happen. Henry says he found ledgers proving that Malachi was using the Red Pony to launder mob money, and he says he showed them to Jacob, and then Jacob fired Malachi from the casino. Walt asks Henry how he got Malachi to give him his bar back. Henry says Malachi signed the deed over to him in exchange for not getting turned in to the authorities.

Walt angrily tells Henry he should realize that he, Walt, is the authorities, and he says he needs to see those ledgers. Henry sighs and admits that he gave them to Jacob. Walt accusingly says that Henry had evidence that Jacob Nighthorse's head of security was laundering mob money in his county, and that Henry gave that evidence to Nighthorse instead of him. Henry says yes he did, which he reminds Walt that he did after giving him the name of Shane Muldoon, the real name of the head of the Irish mob, who Jacob had told him about during one of their previous conversations.

Walt is dismayed, and he tells Henry that he just helped a criminal go free. Henry says as if Walt has never done the same, and he asks Walt if he ever handed over Shane Muldoon's name to the FBI himself. Walt says he was supposed to meet with Malachi last night, and that Malachi was going to give him concrete proof that Nighthorse was actually the one who was running money laundering with his old friend, Shane Muldoon, but he says Malachi never showed up, and now Walt says he knows why. Walt asks Henry if he has any idea where to find Malachi now. Henry says no. Walt says he went by Malachi's house and he wasn't there, and Walt asks Henry if he should be looking for a body. Henry angrily asks Walt if he's suggesting that he murdered Malachi to get his bar back. Walt says he's suggesting that Henry's new business partner, referring to Nighthorse, has an agenda that goes way beyond Henry's ownership of the Red Pony, like silencing the one person who can connect him to organized crime, which would be Malachi.

Henry tells Walt that when he and Jacob left Malachi, Malachi was very much alive. Walt asks Henry if he came to the Red Pony right afterwards. Henry nods to affirm that. Walt asks where did Nighthorse go then. Henry says he does not know. Walt says right, and he angrily asks Henry if it ever occurred to him that Nighthorse might have doubled back to finish off Malachi, knowing that Henry would provide him with an alibi. Henry angrily asks if it's ever occurred to Walt that he sounds like someone with a tinfoil hat, and Henry accuses Walt of becoming completely paranoid when it comes to Jacob. then Henry asks Walt if he really believes that Malachi is some innocent victim, and Henry says they both know what Malachi is capable of doing. then Henry reminds Walt that they were the ones who put Malachi in jail in the first place, back when Malachi was still the tribal police chief, and he was caught running a racketeering operation right out of the tribal police office, where Malachi would force people on the res to pay him extra money to investigate crimes for them. Walt tells Henry he is right, and that Henry and himself used to be on the same side, but Walt says that was back before Nighthorse turned both Henry and Cady against him. then Walt walks away and leaves the bar in a huff.


	28. 28

the next day at Cady's office on the res, Jacob has come to visit again, and Cady finds him standing outside talking to one of the potential clients who has come here for legal aid, while Cora stands quietly nearby. Cady greets Jacob amiably and says he should have called. Jacob tells Cady sorry. Cady asks the guy who Jacob was talking to if he can give her and her boss two minutes. the guy nods, and Jacob gives him a fist bump and addresses the guy as homer, and Jacob promises him that he will be fast, as Jacob found that the conversation he was having with homer was pretty interesting to him. as Cady leads Jacob into her office, Jacob says hey to her. Cady says hi back and asks Jacob if he needed something. Jacob says well, he needs a new head of security. Cady asks what happened to Malachi. Jacob sighs and says he had to let Malachi go.

Cady jokingly asks Jacob if he wants her to grab her rifle and take over the position. Jacob chuckles at that, and he tells Cady seriously that he has no doubt that she could do that, but he says no, and he sits down on the edge of a desk in Cady's office and says he's thinking he may need to hire somebody from outside the community to take over Malachi's position. Jacob doesn't mention this, but he's already decided against asking Cora to take over Malachi's position, because Jacob has already gotten the sense that he might need her for something else pretty soon, if only he could find someone reliable enough to replace her at Cady's office. Cady says that seems reasonable. Jacob says yeah, but he says unfortunately, plenty of people in the tribe are not going to find it so reasonable. Jacob goes on to say that Cady however, seems to be enjoying a fair amount of goodwill right now, as well as a growing clientele, so Jacob says he thought that maybe she could hire more Cheyenne staff to help her here at her office, and kind of balance out the loss of jobs at the casino, and he says he will increase Cady's budget accordingly.

Cady enthusiastically says wow, yeah, that would be great, and that she could really use the help. Jacob says excellent. Cady asks what he thinks is the best way for her to get out that she's looking for applicants. Jacob stands up and says well, and he opens his briefcase to pull out a folder, and he says he's taken care of that, and he hands Cady the folder. Cady sits down to look at the contents of the folder, and after looking through a few of the pages, she says in an apologetic tone that these people don't really have relevant experience. Jacob says yeah, and that's a hard thing to come by on the res. Cady asks him how he chose these people.

Jacob says well, they're capable, and he admits they all have close relatives on the tribal council. Cady says oh, as she realizes that politics are involved here. Jacob says yeah, in a quiet tone, and so, as he picks up his briefcase, and he says that's too bad and that he wishes politics didn't have to muddy the waters here, as he goes to stand by the doorway of the room. then Jacob says but sometimes to achieve something good, you have to manipulate perception a bit, and Jacob gently touches the eagle feather he sees has been attached to Cady's rifle, which is propped against the wall just inside the room by the door, and Jacob lifts the feather with his fingers for a moment in silent contemplation before leaving the feather alone. then Jacob tells Cady that he will be in touch. Cady smiles at him and says ok. then Jacob leaves.

******

meanwhile, outside the courthouse in Durant, the county seat of Absaroka, Walt parks his truck, because he is there to support Vic while she has to attend the trial of Chance Gilbert, for what Gilbert did to her back when he held Vic and her ex-husband, Sean, hostage in his house not too long ago. Dave Milgrom is there too, and as soon as he sees Walt, he walks over to him, and Dave jokingly tells him that he was beginning to think that Walt was dead. Walt says oh, hey Dave, and that he's sorry he didn't realize that he owed Dave a call, and Walt asks him what he wanted to discuss. Dave says oh, you know, sports, politics, and Walt's pending wrongful death lawsuit. Walt says it's not really pending, because he says as he already told Dave, he's settling. Dave says yeah, and that he's been trying to reach Walt to tell him that Barlow's estate refused to settle for any amount, and that Tucker Baggett is taking Walt to trial. Walt asks what, as he is unpleasantly surprised to hear that. Dave says they need to sit down and discuss strategy, and he asks Walt if he has time now.

Walt says uh, no, and that actually one of his deputies is taking the stand in the Chance Gilbert trial, and that he's here for moral support. Dave asks which deputy. Walt says deputy Moretti. Dave says uh-huh, and uh, no, and he tells Walt that he is not going in there. Walt says he has to. Dave argues that Walt has to stay as far away from that case as possible, because he says first of all, Chance Gilbert is one more person accusing Walt and his department of corruption and harassment, and he says Barlow's entire case is predicated on Walt repeatedly stepping outside the acceptable norms and bounds of a law enforcement officer, so he says until Walt's trial is over, that there are to be no public displays of moral support for the deputy Walt was seen kissing in the hospital passionately. Walt argues that he would just be sitting in the back of the gallery. Dave says right, with the reporters, and Dave says no, that's terrific, and he sarcastically tells Walt to make sure they spell his name right. then Dave chuckles and tells Walt that the best thing he can do to help his deputy and himself is to get back in his truck and drive away. without saying another word, Walt reluctantly does what Dave told him to.

Walt goes back to his truck, and when he gets to it, he angrily slings his coat inside before getting in and slamming the door shut in frustration. then Ferg calls him on the radio to tell him that Dennis Wabash checked out of the Peaksman motel two days ago, well before the last time Walt saw Malachi, so he says Dennis isn't feeling like a suspect anymore. Ferg goes on to say that since Vic had to take off, that he followed up with the casino again, and he says Malachi still hasn't shown up for his shift. Walt asks him if there's anything else. Ferg says yeah, and that the phone company was able to ping Malachi's cellphone, and he says they gave him a location, and that for the last hour and a half it hasn't moved.


	29. 29

Walt goes to see Mathias on the res, where Mathias is helping out with a new middle school's charity run. after Walt walks up to him, he sarcastically asks Mathias if he's having a slow day at the office. Mathias tells Walt that he's just helping to raise a little money for a new school, and that their jobs aren't supposed to be all doom and gloom. Mathias says he finds it easier to do the hard stuff when he can remember why he's doing it, and he tells Walt that he should try it. Walt says he would like to, but he says doom and gloom keeps demanding all of his attention. Mathias asks him what he wants. Walt says he needs to report a missing person. Mathias asks who. Walt says Mathias's former boss. Mathias asks if Malachi is missing, and he says that's the first he's heard of it. Walt says he was supposed to meet Malachi last night, because he reveals that Malachi had promised to give him some incriminating evidence that Nighthorse is tied to the mob, but Walt says Malachi never showed up.

Mathias repeats evidence against Nighthorse, and says now he knows why Walt is so anxious to find Malachi, referring to Walt's well-known obsession with Nighthorse, and he asks Walt if he's tried the casino. Walt says Malachi didn't show up for work there or at the Red Pony, and that he's not at home either, but that his car is, so Walt says he doesn't think that Malachi has taken off. Mathias says so here Walt is, and he asks what Walt is demanding exactly. Walt shows Mathias a map and says they traced Malachi's cellphone to here, while Walt points to the spot on the map, and he asks Mathias if he recognizes the location. Mathias looks at Walt with a knowing expression, as he realizes the area that Walt is pointing to is the same area where Nighthorse had previously helped David Ridges try and fake his suicide by burning the carcass of a deer sprinkled with some of ridge's hair and blood on a funeral pyre that Nighthorse had helped David set up out there, after Nighthorse had helped Ridges create a fake suicide video where it looked like Ridges had shot himself in the head.

Mathias follows Walt out to the location where Walt said that Malachi's cellphone was last pinged. when they get there, Walt asks Mathias when was the last time he was out here. Mathias says this is sacred ground, and that he hasn't stepped foot out here since David Ridges shot Branch. Walt says Branch was here investigating where Nighthorse helped Ridges fake his death, and Walt asks Mathias if he thinks it's a little coincidental that the phone company pinged Malachi's phone to this same spot. Walt says it makes him wonder if Nighthorse made another sacrifice. Mathias says come on, and that he doesn't see any phone or a body, and no scavenger birds, and nothing but land and sky.

then Walt asks to borrow Mathias's cellphone. Mathias hands it over to him and asks who he's calling. Walt says he's not sure, but he sarcastically says maybe the spirits. Walt dials Malachi's number and then hears Malachi's cellphone ringing nearby. Walt follows the sound and locates Malachi's cellphone on the ground by some rocks near the cliff side, and Walt bends down to grab it. then Mathias also finds some blood on a rock nearby, and he points it out to Walt and says he guesses that cockroaches bleed after all, referring disparagingly to Malachi. Walt comes over to look at it, and he hands Mathias back his cellphone as Walt looks down at the blood. then Mathias holds out his hand for something else, so Walt hands over Malachi's cellphone as well. then Mathias uses his own cellphone to take photos of the blood he found, and he asks Walt if he really thinks that Nighthorse did something to his own head of security. Walt says yeah, and that he's starting to believe he had some help as Walt points to the ground to show Mathias a group of nearby rocks that have been rearranged to spell out "Hector Lives".

******

then Mathias goes to the Red Pony to talk to Henry. Mathias goes up to Henry behind the bar and asks him what did he do. Henry says excuse me as he turns to Mathias to listen. Mathias gets into Henry's face and says maybe he should ask him what Hector did. Henry says perhaps they should continue this discussion in his office, so Mathias follows Henry into the office. after they get inside and shut the door for privacy, Henry asks Mathias in an annoyed tone what he is talking about. Mathias tells Henry that Malachi has gone missing, and that he just got back from the res with the sheriff, and he asks Henry if he would like to know what they found out there, and he tells Henry they found Malachi's phone and his blood, along with the words "Hector Lives" spelled out with stones. Henry repeats "Hector Lives" in a questioning tone. Mathias says that's right, mockingly calling Henry Picasso, and he says he guesses that Henry just can't help signing his name to his work. Henry says Hector did not sign anything and that Hector did not do anything.

Mathias asks Henry if he was never out at that cliff. Henry admits that he was, with Nighthorse, and that they took Malachi out there to banish him for betraying their tribe, for bringing the mob and heroin and despair to their people, and for killing Mingan. Henry explains that Nighthorse cut Malachi and got Malachi to sign the Red Pony back over to him, but that when they left Malachi, he was alive. Mathias asks so who wrote "Hector Lives". Henry honestly says he does not know, since he did not actually do it. Mathias asks who knew they were taking Malachi out there. Henry says just Jacob and himself, then after thinking for a moment, Henry admits that Walt told him he suspected that Nighthorse had put on a show for him, then went back to kill Malachi. Mathias says maybe Nighthorse did, and that maybe he wrote out "Hector Lives", since he says Hector would be a handy fall guy for this. Henry says that whatever happened, they need to find Malachi, dead or alive, before Walt tries to convict Hector of murder.

meanwhile, Walt goes to Jacob's casino to find Jacob and question him about Malachi. when Walt finds him, he waits for Jacob to get done talking to some people, then Walt goes over to him while Jacob is looking at his cellphone, and Jacob looks up to see Walt. Walt greets him amiably enough, so Jacob says hey to him, and he asks how Eamonn is recovering from his injury, since he never got an update on that. Walt says Eamonn should be fine, especially if he can find the person who shot him, and who shot at the two of them. then Walt asks Jacob if he minds if he sits. Jacob says of course, and offers Walt a chair at the nearby table, then sits down with Walt at the table. Walt asks him if Malachi came into work today. Jacob asks if Walt thinks Malachi was the one in the woods by his property who was shooting at them. Walt says he does. Jacob says well, so does he, which he says is why Malachi won't be coming to work today, because he says he fired him.

Walt asks Jacob how he figured out it was Malachi. Jacob says he found some discrepancies in Malachi's books that suggested Malachi had made his own side deal with the mob, and Jacob says he imagines that when he ended that arrangement himself, that it hurt both Malachi's finances and his reputation, and he says that Malachi doesn’t handle those kinds of setbacks as calmly as he does. Walt asks Jacob if he knows where Malachi is, and Jacob says he does not. Walt asks Jacob why he doesn't give him that book-keeping evidence so he can track down Malachi and make sure he's put behind bars. Jacob says hmm, yeah, well, he can't do that. Walt asks why not. Jacob says because of their history, and that they both know what Walt will do with those books, and Jacob says that Walt will try to use them against him. Jacob explains that no matter what Walt's intentions are now, eventually Walt will convince himself that he condoned all of Malachi's illegal activities, because he says Walt really can't help himself at this point, because Jacob says Walt is determined to see him as a criminal. Walt sarcastically says he wonders why.

Jacob says boom, and he points at Walt and chuckles, and he tells Walt that he can't win with him, and he adamantly repeats that he cannot win, so he says he thinks he'll take his chances with Malachi instead. Walt skeptically says the man who shot at him. Jacob says yeah, and that he doesn't think Malachi will be trying anything more. Walt asks Jacob if that's because he murdered Malachi. Jacob says wow, and sighs, getting up from the table, and he says that was even faster than he expected, and he sarcastically asks, so he's a murderer now, and quietly says yeah, as he glares at Walt angrily. Jacob then reminds Walt that he does realize that he is being asked to testify at his civil trial, then Jacob walks away from Walt in disgust. Walt follows him though, and asks if that's a threat. Jacob calls back over his shoulder as he continues walking away, saying it's advice, and that it's damn good advice. then Jacob stops and says unbe-freaking-lievable as Walt continues following him, and Jacob turns to him and says Walt can't even prove that Malachi is dead, and he asks if Walt has found his body. Walt says not yet, but he says he will.

Jacob says so Walt didn't come here because he thought Malachi was behind the shooting at his house, and he asks Walt if he didn't. then Jacob answers the question himself and walks closer to Walt as he says no, no, of course not, because he says Walt thinks he was behind it himself, and that Walt thinks he made the deal with the mob, and that he shot at himself to throw Walt off the track, and that now Walt thinks he killed Malachi because that ungrateful bastard was going to give him up, and Jacob asks yeah, to see if Walt will confirm any of that. Walt says no, and that he doesn't think Jacob actually did any of those things, because he says he thinks, as usual, that Jacob found someone else to do the dirty work for him, and Walt says he thinks Jacob had Malachi make those deals with the mob for him, and that he thinks Jacob hired someone to shoot at him in Walt's presence and miss, and that he thinks Jacob had somebody else kill Malachi so he could keep his blood off his hands.

Jacob says he hasn't seen Walt this sure of himself since Walt was convinced that he had both Branch and Walt's wife killed, and he says it's almost entertaining, and that it's like he can't sleep at night anymore, wondering what wild fiction is Walt going to come up with next. Walt says he thinks this is stranger than fiction, because he says he found Malachi's cellphone and blood out on the reservation, right near where Jacob staged David Ridges' funeral pyre, and that he also found the words "Hector Lives" nearby. Jacob sighs wearily and says there it is, and that now Walt thinks he's Hector too. Walt says no, but that he does think Jacob recruited Hector to do the things Ridges used to do for him, and he says he doesn't suppose that Jacob would tell him who Hector really is. Jacob says if he knew, then he wouldn't tell him, and that if he told him, then Walt wouldn't believe him, since Jacob secretly believes that Henry is probably the new Hector, but Jacob just says he thinks that he'll just answer any further questions with a genuinely stunned silence. Walt grins and chuckles with a smug look on his face and says he's getting closer to finding this new Hector, and that when he does, he's going to bring him down, along with anyone who's using him as their own mercenary for hire. then Walt tells Jacob sarcastically to have a nice day, and then Walt turns and leaves.


	30. 30

that evening, Walt goes to see Cady at her office on the res. after Cora looks at him suspiciously, but doesn't move to stop him, since she knows that Walt his hardly a threat to Cady, Walt knocks on the door, and after Cady looks out from the kitchen in the back, Walt opens the door and lets himself in. Cady walks over to him and says hey, dad, and Walt says hey back. then Walt looks down at the floor panels, which he sees are now finished, and he says the floor looks good. Cady says yeah, except for the blood stain under the rug, referring to JP's blood stain, which Cady just put a cheap rug over to hide it rather than bothering to replace the tiles. Walt quietly says yeah, as he stares at the rug. Cady asks him what he's doing here. Walt says he wanted to talk to her about Nighthorse, and he asks if Nighthorse has been by lately. Cady says yeah, since she says Jacob is her boss. Walt says yeah, and that he hasn't forgotten that. after a pause, Walt carefully asks Cady if Nighthorse has asked her to provide any legal assistance to someone who's been operating outside of reservation law. Cady scoffs and asks what, and like who. Walt says Hector. Cady puts her hands on her hips and asks Walt if he knows what Jacob really did ask her, and she says Jacob came by with Henry to ask her how she was doing after shooting a man, and that Jacob also offered to pay for extra employees to help her manage the workload here, then Cady sarcastically says, what a monster.

Walt asks what about Henry, since he says that Henry and Nighthorse seem to be closer than ever, and Walt asks her if Henry has asked her to do anything for Nighthorse, and he asks her if Henry has asked her to help out Hector. Cady says that since she started this legal aid center, Henry has asked for her help exactly one time, and she says that was when he wanted to foster a Cheyenne child named Mingan, whose only parent OD'ed on heroin. Walt asks in surprise if Henry is fostering a child. Cady says no, because she says the boy ended up killing himself. Walt asks when was this. Cady looks at her calendar and says the 13th. Walt repeats the 13th as he thinks about that. then Cady tells Walt that Jacob and Henry are good men, and she says they're not perfect, but that they care. Cady goes on to say that it's a daily battle trying to fight the hopelessness and powerlessness that's taken over this place, and that you have to think differently here to make things work, and she says if Walt was here every day, then maybe he would see that. Walt says he sees plenty, and he says he sees Nighthorse pretending to be a good man, and Cady and Henry both falling for it, regardless of what he says.

Cady asks Walt if he's still dating that psychiatrist, because she says if he is, then maybe he could talk to her about his irrational Nighthorse obsession. Cady tells Walt that she loves him, and that she always will, but she says she thinks maybe he has been doing his job for too long, because she says he's developed these deep-seated biases that are clouding his judgment, and that he's not thinking clearly anymore, so she says it might be time for him to consider retiring. Walt looks dejected as he looks down and away from Cady for a moment after hearing that, then he sarcastically thanks Cady for her counsel, digging at her for being a lawyer again. as Walt goes to leave, Cady calls after him, sarcastically saying that she's totally over shooting and killing that man, so thanks for asking, since Walt never actually bothered to ask her that himself. Walt doesn't answer her though, so Cady sits back down at her desk, looking upset, as her father just leaves.

******

the next day at the sheriff's station, Walt calls Vic and Ferg into his office. when Vic comes in, she asks Walt what is it. Walt says it's about Malachi, and that he needs her and Ferg to pull files on the recent drug dealer attacks linked to Hector on the res. Ferg says ok, and he says that would be Jamie Debell, who is a pot dealer and sometimes friend and informant of Walt's, and Ferg mentions the incident when Jamie was attacked non-lethally and restrained by Hector while making his res pizza delivery, since no one at the sheriff's station has any idea that Henry did that to Jamie just as a means to show Walt that Hector is a generally non-lethal vigilante, then Ferg asks who else. Walt rifles through some old case file and says Joey Takoda, the guy who Walt says Henry found dead in his car outside the Red Pony, after Hector had burned Joey's heroin stash. Vic says ok and asks if there's anyone else. Walt says maybe, but he says they should just start with these two. Vic says ok and leaves for a moment to grab some files. then Walt starts writing different dates down on post-it notes, and he asks Ferg when did Hector attack Jamie and burn up his pot. Ferg looks through the file he's holding and says the 18th. Walt writes that down and asks when did Hector burn Joey Takoda's heroin stash. Vic comes back in and looks it up for him from another file she's holding, and she says the 15th. Walt writes that down too.

Ferg says these incidents are all connected to Hector. Vic says and, well, heroin. Ferg says no, because he reminds them that Jamie only deals pot. Walt says true, but he says Eddie Harp was trying to recruit Jamie to deal heroin, and that if Malachi is the one who brought in Eddie and the Irish mob into the county, as opposed to Nighthorse, although Walt doesn't say that part out loud, then Walt says Malachi is tied to heroin as well. Vic asks if Hector is waging a one man war on drugs, then why now. Ferg says none of these things were happening last month, and he says then suddenly there was a whole bunch of attacks in a short period of time. Walt says yeah, and that something must have triggered it, something right before the 15th. Vic says they should check and see what was happening on the res during that time, because she says maybe there was a drug-related incident that happened just before Hector's first attack. Walt says there was, and he says it was the suicide of this boy on the 13th, an Walt hands Vic a newspaper clipping of an article that was written about Mingan's death. Ferg says ok, but he asks how does that relate to the drugs and all the other stuff. Walt says Mingan's only parent OD'ed from heroin. Vic asks Walt if he thinks that Hector is avenging Mingan's death. Walt says he does. Vic asks Walt if he has any better idea of who Hector is and where to find him then. Walt says he might, as Walt actually starts to consider Henry as a possible suspect, although he chooses to keep that idea to himself for now.


	31. 31

a little while later, Walt is sitting in his truck while parked outside of the Red Pony, and he's looking intently at the front of the building while recollecting different memories in which he was talking to Henry at previous times. Walt remembers back when he was sitting down at the Red Pony to count the pellets from the shotgun shells after Branch's death, since Branch had died from getting shot in the face with a shotgun, and Henry had said he knows what it feels like to have a death weigh on you, and that he thinks about Hector every day. Walt grabs the file folder containing his documented clues on the new Hector and starts paging through the contents, and he remembers when he drove by an old broken down station wagon on the res that had "Hector Lives" spray-painted across it, when Henry was with him in the truck, and when Walt had commented about the graffiti, Henry had told him that in a way, Hector Lives on as an idea and a hope. Walt had also asked Henry then if it was possible that someone could be picking up Hector's mantle, and Henry had just told him that anything is possible. 

Walt looks at another sheet from the folder, and he remembers Henry in the kitchen of the Red Pony, when Walt told him his theory that Mathias could be the new Hector, and Henry had just told him that Mathias is not the only one who is frustrated with the limit of reservation law. then Walt pulls out the newspaper clipping on Mingan's death from his shirt pocket to look at it again, while remembering what Cady told him about Henry wanting to become Mingan's foster parent right before Mingan had ended up killing himself, and Walt finally draws the conclusion, however reluctantly, that Henry is the one who has been operating as the new Hector, and therefore Walt's best friend is a criminal who has been lying to him for quite some time now.

Walt then leaves his truck and enters the Red Pony to confront Henry. Walt goes up to the bar and asks Henry for a rainier, Walt's favorite brand of beer. while Henry moves to grab a can for him, he asks Walt if he's knocking off of work a bit early today. Walt tells Henry to go ahead and make it two of the beers, so Henry grabs two cans of rainier out of the fridge and brings them both to Walt as requested. Walt opens one of the cans and proceeds to guzzle more than half of it all at once. Henry looks at Walt worriedly and asks him if there is something on his mind, since Henry knows that Walt doesn't usually drink like this unless he's really upset about something. Walt sets down the beer can and tells Henry that Cady thinks her father should retire. Henry asks why does Cady think that. Walt says apparently he's been doing his job for so long that it's affecting his judgment. Henry asks Walt if he agrees with that. Walt says he doesn't know, but he says maybe Cady is right, and maybe he can't do the job the way he used to, the way he should, and that sometimes he finds himself staring right at the truth without even seeing it, all because he doesn't want to see it. Henry looks at Walt thoughtfully and says that is human nature. Walt goes on to say that sometimes it's not his fault though, because he says sometimes he can't see it because someone else is hiding it from him. Henry says he now feels that Walt is talking about something very specific.

Walt says uh-huh, and he raises his beer can again to finish drinking the rest of it. then Walt crumples the can and slams it down onto the bar, and Walt demands Henry to take off his shirt. Henry incredulously asks what, with a confused expression. Walt says if Henry is who he believes he is, then Henry has a bullet wound somewhere on his body. Henry says he does not believe that Walt needs another one of these, and with that he tries to grab for the second can of beer that Walt hasn't opened yet. when Henry does that, Walt grabs Henry's wrist and holds onto it forcefully as he says he shot Hector in the woods, right near that bonfire where gab's rapists were, and that they found blood on the ground, so Walt says he knew he hit him. Henry asks Walt what he is saying. Walt angrily asks Henry if he can look him in the eye and tell him he's not Hector. Henry tells Walt to let go of his arm. instead, Walt tightens his grip and yanks on Henry's arm as Walt tells Henry in a seething tone to stop lying to him, because he says he's sick of it, and that all he ever does is try and help people, and all he ever gets in return is people lying to him and hiding things. Henry angrily asks Walt if it has ever dawned on him that sometimes people do not tell him the truth because they want to protect him.

Walt says that's a bullshit excuse. Henry adamantly argues by saying no, that is love, but he says Walt chooses to see it as disloyalty. Walt yells that dishonesty is disloyalty, and that breaking the law, when he is the law, is absolutely disloyal. with that, Walt yanks on Henry's arm again to emphasize his point. Henry furiously says that Walt cannot know what it takes to fight back the violence and the drugs and the suicides on the res. Walt repeats, suicides, and he asks, like Mingan Pine's. Henry yells yes, like Mingan, and he yells for Walt to let go of his arm as he forcefully tries to pull himself away from Walt. however, Walt doesn't let go, and he says that he just wants to hear Henry say it. Walt yanks on Henry's arm again and says through gritted teeth to tell him, to tell him he's Hector. 

Henry asks why would he trust Walt with something like that when he says Walt's own daughter does not trust him enough to call him after she's been arrested. Walt then punches Henry, and Henry punches him back, and they proceed to get into a huge bar brawl. while they are fighting, Walt yells at Henry that he knows it's him. when Henry tries to get away from Walt, Henry yells back at him, accusing Walt of being out of control. Walt continues to go after him though, and he tackles Henry over one of the bar tables. after they both get back to their feet, Henry punches Walt again, and they exchange a few more blows before Henry takes a run at Walt and pushes him all the way back to the exit of the bar to slam Walt against the wall there. the fight is eventually broken up by Mathias, who decides to arrest both Henry and Walt for fighting at the Red Pony, regardless if he has the jurisdiction to do it or not, which technically he doesn't, and both Walt and Henry decide to go with him willingly, if only to avoid making themselves into an even bigger public spectacle by resisting the arrest.

******

Dave Milgrom comes into the tribal police station to see Walt, since Walt called him shortly after being brought in there by Mathias for starting the fight with Henry at the Red Pony. Walt tells Dave that he shouldn't be here, and that he just went along with it because he didn't want to cause any more of a scene. Dave says Walt is right, since he says Mathias had no right to arrest Walt off the res, and he says that's the good news, but he says the bad news is, well, everything else. Walt says right, and that so he's free to go. Dave says uh, yes and no, and that he means yes Walt can go, but he says Mr. Standing Bear can still press assault charges against Walt in the county, and Dave says he thinks it might be worth their while to try and get this resolved right here and right now. Walt says ok. Dave looks at Walt in exasperation and says Walt just couldn't let a news cycle go by without trying to dominate it, and asks could he. then Dave asks Walt what the hell happened. 

at the same time, Henry is in another room of the tribal police station talking to Mathias, and Henry tells Mathias that Walt accused him of being Hector. Mathias asks how does Walt know. Henry says honestly, he does not know how he has managed to keep it hidden for this long. Mathias asks if Walt has proof. Henry says Walt knows he shot him, but that Walt was trying to get his shirt off to see the scar, so he says obviously Walt does not have concrete evidence, since Walt actually only shot Henry in the leg. Mathias says yeah, but that Walt knows where to find it. Henry asks Mathias what he means. Mathias says Walt was with him when he collected samples of Henry's blood from the ground out there where Henry was shot by Walt. Henry sighs and asks if Walt could get a warrant and make Mathias turn it over to him. Mathias nods to affirm that.

back in the other room, Dave tells Walt this is bad, a massive public bar brawl, and he asks Walt if he was drinking. Walt says a little. Dave asks if Walt has a history with this other guy. Walt says Henry is his best friend. Dave looks exasperated and says oh, of course he is. Walt says but Henry has been lying to him, because he says it turns out Henry has been secretly running around as Hector, so Walt says he is the one who should be pressing charges here. Dave says wait, and he asks if Hector is that violent reservation vigilante. Walt nods and says yeah. Dave says ok, and he tells Walt that he cannot let that get out. Walt asks why not. Dave says because Walt is already accused of having a torrid relationship with his pretty deputy who breaks the law for him, referring to Vic and the rumors that have been circulating about her and Walt's relationship, and Dave says now Walt's best friend is a vigilante, and he tells Walt to try and imagine how Tucker Baggett might spin that. Walt asks what he's supposed to do, and asks if he should do nothing. Dave nods and says he thinks they just had a breakthrough.

in the other room, Henry asks Mathias if he can get rid of the evidence. Mathias says not without breaking another law. Henry sighs in exasperation and asks so, what do they do. Mathias asks if Walt threw the first punch, and Henry nods. Mathias says Walt doesn't need any more legal trouble right now, so he says maybe if Henry threatens to press charges then Walt will back down. Henry says that Walt does not seem to be in a backing down kind of mood. Mathias asks Henry if he thinks that Walt will send him back to prison, referring to how Henry was sent to prison before, after Henry was charged with the murder of Miller Beck, which he didn't commit, and Walt and Cady had to fight tooth and nail to get Henry out of there before he was killed by Malachi's gang members.

back in the other room, Walt tells Dave that he doesn't know if Henry is going to press charges, and that he doesn't know much about what Henry is thinking these days. Dave says well, and he says he guesses he better go find out, and that whatever deal he can make to get Walt out of this, if he can get him out of this, then he says that Walt will promise to abide by it, and he asks Walt to agree. Walt sighs, but doesn't say anything, so Dave presses him for an answer. Walt finally nods.

so Dave goes to Mathias and tells him that he can't hold his client. Mathias says Dave knows that his sheriff can't assault people without consequences. Dave asks if this means that Henry is going to press charges. Mathias whispers to Dave, saying not if the sheriff is willing to drop this whole Hector business. Dave nods and says he thinks they can live with that. Mathias nods back and says ok then. Dave asks if that's it. Mathias says he guesses that's it, and he walks away. a bit later, both Walt and Henry leave the tribal police station at the same time, but they do not speak to each other as they both make their way to their vehicles parked outside the building, in order to avoid making any more of a scene than they already have, since they both have their own reasons for wanting to keep this incident under wraps, and out of the media as much as possible.


	32. 32

the next morning, Cady is at the tribal police station sitting in Mathias's office, waiting for him. when Mathias comes in, Cady says if Mathias has been interviewing her client the whole time he's kept her waiting here, then she says she won't just have his statement thrown out, but that she will also bring a suit against Mathias's department. the reason Cady is here is because Mathias has just arrested Darius after catching him digging up a backpack full of money in the desert on the res that Mathias suspects was for Malachi, and Darius actually called Cady to help him get released, and Cady agreed to take Darius on as a client. Mathias tells Cady to relax, because he says Darius Burns isn't talking to anybody, and he says honestly that he's sorry about making Cady wait, and he says it wasn't intentional. Cady says come on, and that she's not stupid, as she doesn't believe Mathias.

Mathias tells her that he was pulled away by a pretty unusual situation, referring to the incident between Walt and Henry, without spelling it out for her. Cady asks which was what. Mathias just tells her to ask her dad. Cady lets that go and asks what exactly are the charges that are being brought against her client. Mathias says they suspect him of being involved with the disappearance of Malachi Strand. Cady skeptically says Mathias suspects him of that, and she laughs a little and says that's nowhere near sufficient for Mathias to hold Darius. Mathias tells her he knows all the arguments about every individual being entitled to a good defense, but he asks Cady to trust him on this, and he says that she does not want to take on Darius as a client, because he says he is a really bad guy. Cady says Mathias really doesn't know all the arguments about everybody being entitled to a good defense, and she tells Mathias to release Darius, and she demands him to do it now. Mathias says Cady came to him a while back wanting to help their community. as Cady gets ready to leave, she says yeah, and that she remembers. Mathias asks does she, because he insists that helping Darius Burns isn't going to help anyone. Cady just looks at him for a moment without saying anything, and then she leaves to go see Darius. after she's gone, Mathias holds his head and sighs in frustration at Cady's naivety. 

******

at Jacob's house, Jacob has the personal security team he has hired patrolling his property to provide him with protection from Malachi, since Jacob can't get Walt to help him anymore, and he's still not ready to pull Cora away from Cady's office yet, just for his own sake, and not after what Cady just had to go through with JP Wright. Henry comes to see Jacob at his home, and Henry is escorted into the house by one of the security guards while Jacob is sitting down at his laptop in his living room. Jacob greets Henry by saying hey to him when he sees Henry walk in, and Jacob thanks frank, the security guard, for letting Henry in. as frank leaves the room, Henry tells Jacob that he likes this new security guard better than the last one, referring to Eamonn, since Eamonn had been a little overzealous with Henry the last time he visited, in order to force Henry down on the ground and search him for weapons. Jacob stands up from his laptop and shuffles some papers as he says yeah, and that he doesn't think Eamonn will be back, since he says his period of détente with the sheriff's office was breathtakingly brief. then as Jacob walks across to the other side of the room, he amiably asks Henry what he can do for him.

Henry follows him over there with a serious expression and asks Jacob to level with him. Jacob puts the stack of papers he was carrying down on another table, and he tells Henry, well now, that's all he's ever done. Henry asks Jacob if after they left Malachi out at that cliff, did he go back and kill him. Jacob blinks slowly and says Henry has been talking to his friend the sheriff. Henry says he is not certain that Walt is still his friend, but that Jacob has not answered his question. Jacob places his hands on his hips and sternly says the answer is no, that he did not kill Malachi, and that he didn't send anyone else to do it either, and he says while he's used to Walt Longmire imagining that he's at the heart of all sorts of elaborate conspiracies, he says he is kind of surprised at Henry, especially after he says he helped Henry get his bar back. with that, Jacob sits down on one of his chairs in the living room while continuing to face Henry with a serious expression. Henry says he is grateful for that, but that some of the details of this situation do not make sense, as he continues to stand across from Jacob.

Jacob holds out his hand to ask Henry to sit down with him. after Henry does, Jacob sighs and says like "Hector Lives" being spelled out in stones, out where they banished Malachi. Henry says yes. Jacob asks Henry if it's occurred to him that Malachi might have done that himself to make it look like Hector did something bad to him. Henry asks why would Malachi fake his own disappearance and try to pin it on Hector. Jacob says to make people believe that Malachi is gone and no longer a threat. Henry thinks about it and nods, saying that makes Malachi more of a threat than ever. as Jacob looks at Henry intently, he cocks his head affirmatively to show that he agrees with Henry's assessment. then Jacob reaches for a teacup on his coffee table in front of him and picks it up to take a drink from it, and then he tells Henry that he might want to invest in a couple of these guys, as Jacob indicates to the security guards he has posted outside, who are plainly visible to them through the big back windows of Jacob's living room where they are sitting.

******

later on at Jacob's house, after Henry has left, Cady comes by to visit Jacob. after she is let through by the security guards, Cady finds Jacob out in his back yard, kneeling in the middle of his meditation circle while he hammers one of his wooden stakes into the ground in the center of the stone circle, and this is probably the first time Cady has ever seen Jacob while he is wearing plain clothes instead of a fancy suit. Cady walks up behind Jacob and asks him what is all this. Jacob holds his hammer in his right hand while he's using it, and he stops hammering to turn and look at Cady. then Jacob stands up, transferring his hammer to his left hand, and he tells Cady this is where he meditates, and he asks her to what does he owe the honor. Cady says she wanted to tell him that she reached out to the people that he recommended for the jobs at her office, and that they're all going to start in the next week or two. 

Jacob amiably says great, that's great, and he thanks her for doing that. Cady says she also wanted to ask his blessing to add one more name to the list. Jacob asks her if she found somebody with legal experience. Cady says no, but she says the person she has in mind shows real initiative, referring to Mandy, the young Indian woman who has sort of been volunteering herself as Cady's personal assistant while she works on the res. Jacob nods and says ok, and he takes off his sunglasses and says that he'll add one more employee to the budget, then he goes to set his hammer down in a nearby wheelbarrow and clip his sunglasses to the front pocket of his black jeans. Cady says thanks to him for that. then Jacob is putting his watch back on when he realizes that Cady isn't leaving yet, so he asks her if there was something else.

Cady says no, but then she corrects herself and says well, actually, uh, and after some hesitation, she says it's her dad. Jacob asks what about him. Cady says she's worried about both Walt and Jacob. Jacob puts his hand in his front pocket and says well, she knows that her dad and him have always been on opposite sides of pretty much everything. with that, Jacob pulls one of his rings from his front pocket to put it back on his finger, since he'd taken it off along with his watch earlier to work in his yard. Cady says yeah, she knows, and she tells Jacob that she loves her dad, but that she doesn't always agree with him, and that she doesn't want Jacob to think that she shares Walt's feelings about him. Jacob says well, he doesn't think that. Cady tells Jacob that he says that now, but she admits that Walt has been acting differently, and that he is really fixated on Jacob now in an unhealthy way, and she says maybe she's overreacting, but that she's worried that things between the two of them are only going to get worse. 

Jacob says he appreciates the warning, and he walks closer to Cady and says but as she can see, and he indicates to the security guards surrounding them, that he's taken steps to make sure he's safe. Cady asks if these guards are here to protect him from her dad. Jacob sighs and tells Cady that nobody knows what threats the world holds for them, and he says you can’t know, and that all you can do is surround yourself with people you trust to look after you, and he says the fact that Cady is here tells him that she is one of those people. then Jacob and Cady exchange meaningful looks for a moment before Cady thanks him again and decides it's time for her to leave.


	33. 33

one afternoon, Henry is working at the Red Pony when a young Indian woman begs him for a ride home, because she says she lost her keys, and there's an emergency with her kid, and she is acting kind of hysterical about it. so Henry, being the nice guy that he is, especially where needy women are concerned, agrees to help her by giving her the ride home that she is asking for, but unfortunately for him, it turns out to be a trap, because the girl is actually Malachi's granddaughter, and she knowingly leads Henry into her house where Malachi, Darius, and a couple of other thugs are waiting to trap Henry and knock him out.

******

since Cady has become so popular on the res now, since her shooting of JP, and Mandy's family in particular wants to reward Cady for hiring Mandy at her office, Mandy is excited to invite Cady to a ceremonial sweat that her family is putting together in order to adopt Cady into the tribe. Cady is surprised and touched by the gesture, plus she is curious about sweats, since she's never been to one before, and Cady readily agrees to go to the sweat that she was invited to attend with Mandy.

******

at the mayor's office, Jacob walks in to see Sawyer, who is the mayor of Durant, the county seat of Absaroka. after Jacob is let in by one of Sawyer's aids, Jacob greets Sawyer as Mr. Mayor. Sawyer enthusiastically greets Jacob by saying hey to him very amiably. Jacob says Sawyer wanted to see him. Sawyer tells him to come on in, and he goes to shake Jacob's hand. as they shake hands, Sawyer asks if he can get Jacob anything, like a water. Jacob says no, and that he's good. Sawyer says excellent and he asks Jacob to sit down, and Sawyer sits down himself as Jacob walks around the chair that Sawyer wants him to sit in, and Jacob says in all his years he's never been invited to the mayor's office, and as he sits down, Jacob says the sheriff's office a few times, but never the mayor. Sawyer says well, times have changed. Jacob sits and leans back in the chair and asks, have they. Sawyer says they're about to, and he says Jacob knows the mayor is up for re-election soon. Jacob says hmm, and that Sawyer is not going to be unopposed this time as he understands. Sawyer says that's why he needs Jacob's support, now more than ever. Jacob says "me" in a questioning tone. Sawyer tells Jacob that his casino might not be in his town, but that it is not lost on him the importance it has on the economy of this county. Jacob asks Sawyer so what is he offering him. Sawyer chuckles and smiles and tells Jacob that he gets right to the point.

Jacob explains that when dealing with the big chiefs of the white men, he's learned that it's best to cut through the bullshit early, or he's likely to drown in it. Sawyer says touché. Jacob asks Sawyer seriously why he should throw his money, his publicity machine, and his sizeable off-res native constituency Sawyer's way. Sawyer says because he's going to solve Jacob's biggest problem for him. Jacob skeptically says oh, that's intriguing, and he asks what, in sawyers mind, is his biggest problem. Sawyer says sheriff Walt Longmire, who he says has been standing in the way of everything they've been trying to do in this county for years. Sawyer says Walt's squeaky clean, aw-shucks image has made him impossible to go after, but he says that was before the civil suit, and Sawyer says he could take Walt down now. Jacob looks thoughtful as he contemplates what Sawyer said, and then he tells Sawyer that he will have to think about it and call him later, even though Jacob has no intention of doing anything to help Sawyer. because despite all of Jacob's troubles with Walt, the idea of helping this slimy politician in any way turns Jacob's stomach more than the idea of getting Walt fired appeals to him at the moment.

******

Henry wakes up way out in the desert on the Crow res to find himself tied to the ground by three wooden stakes with leather straps attached to them, and Malachi is there to tell Henry that these stakes are from Jacob's property, so according to Malachi's plans, Jacob will be framed for Henry's murder after Henry finally dies, if his body is ever found. Malachi's plan here is to basically crucify Henry to death by letting him die slowly of thirst after baking in the sun for however long it takes to kill him, to get revenge on him for helping Jacob perform the banishment, and for taking the Red Pony back. after Malachi is done talking to Henry, he leaves Darius in charge of his other henchmen who have been ordered to stand guard around Henry to make sure he doesn't get away.

******

at the sweat with Mandy and her family, Cady enjoys herself until she eventually begins to hallucinate, or rather have a vision, in which she sees many disturbing images, including Henry hanging by a noose from a tree while trying to call someone on a cellphone, Walt's empty cabin, which has been totally cleared out except for the old tea box that Walt used to keep Martha's ashes in, along with Walt's office at the sheriff's station, which has also been similarly cleaned out except for Walt's coat rack which only has his cowboy at on it. then Cady sees Walt performing a Dog Soldier ritual on his property to stand his ground while holding his rifle over his head and screaming at the sky, and Cady sees herself walking through a pool of blood in her legal aid office while Mandy is trying in vain to clean the blood off the floor in there. and then Cady even sees Jacob dressed in his Dog Soldier garb with bloody slashes across his chest, while holding a golf club where he stands on Walt's property, while acting like he's trying to play golf on it, and then Cady sees Cora looking directly at her with a furious expression before Cora changes shape into some monstrous thing that Cady could barely begin to describe if her life depended on it. then the last thing Cady sees in her vision is the same tree that she saw Henry hanging from previously, except this time Henry is gone, and there is an owl perched on one of the branches, and it seems to be looking right at her.

******

meanwhile, Jacob has already increased the security detail at his home, because he has already begun to fear retaliation from Malachi, and he doesn't even yet know what has happened to Henry, because now Jacob is upset to find out that some of his ceremonial stakes were stolen from his back yard, despite the presence of so many security guards that Jacob has been paying good money to patrol his entire property all day and night pretty much ever since he banished Malachi.


	34. 34

the next morning, Cady wakes up on the thin mattress of the bed in one of the bedrooms of the old house she is using as her office on the res, covered with a blanket that's printed with an Indian design that Cady doesn't recognize. Cady sits up confused and surprised to see where she is, as she doesn't remember a lot about what happened to her the previous night, and she wonders why she wasn't able to make it home. then Mandy peeks in to tell Cady good morning. Cady looks at her with a confused expression and then stammers as she tries to ask why she is here, and Mandy asks Cady if she means why she's sleeping at the office. Cady nods, and Mandy says Cady was a train wreck last night. Cady asks her what she means. Mandy says Cady passed out in the sweat, which she says is pretty normal for a newb, and that she would have taken Cady home, but she says she doesn’t know where Cady lives.

Cady pushes the blanket off her and stands up, looking dazed. Mandy says then when she tried to bring Cady inside her office, Cady woke up and started hitting her, and then she says Cady just started talking crazy, so Mandy says that she had to get Cora to drag her pain in the ass in here and drop her on the bed, and she says that Cady was fighting Cora pretty hard all the way in here, and that Cora had to stand guard right here at the bedroom doorway until Cady finally passed out, to make sure that Cady wouldn't get out and hurt herself. Cady's expression goes blank as she thinks about that, although she can't remember any of that, and then Mandy tells Cady to follow her into the kitchen, because she says Cady needs coffee.

Cady goes to follow Mandy, but as she approaches the spot on the floor where JP's old bloodstain is, because for some reason the rug she had there has been removed, Cady has a flashback of Mandy trying to clean up the excess blood there that Cady saw in her vision. as Cady shakes it off and goes into the kitchen, she asks Mandy if it's normal to see things during a sweat, like hallucinations. Mandy asks her if she means visions, and she asks Cady what did she see, and she asks if it was like an animal or something, as Mandy brings a cup of coffee to Cady, and when Mandy walks out of the kitchen and over the old blood stain on the floor just outside of it, Cady has the same flashback that she just had again, with Mandy trying to wipe up a bunch of fresh blood off the floor right there.

Cady holds the cup of coffee Mandy fixed for her and says she doesn't know, but then she says she did see an owl. Mandy says that must be Cady's spirit animal, while not seeming to know that the owl is the Cheyenne messenger of death, even though Mandy is Cheyenne herself. Mandy says wow in surprise, and she says that is not normal for a newb, and she admits that the only things she's really seen are like weird colors and stuff. Cady thanks Mandy for bringing her back here, and she says she's really sorry for hitting Mandy. Mandy says yeah, that was nuts, and she smiles at Cady to show that she's not angry about it. then Mandy asks what Cady saw that made her so upset, and she asks if Cady saw her with horns or fangs or something, as Mandy tries to guess what could have instigated Cady into attacking her physically.

Cady says Mandy was just herself, but that she was cleaning blood, and that her friend Henry was hanging, although Cady is reminded of how she did see Cora change into some kind of crazy monster, but she decides not to mention that, as Cady glances towards the front door, where she knows Cora is still standing guard there, just out of view from where Cady is currently standing. Mandy asks hanging what. Cady says no, hanging, like from a noose, although she says that he wasn't dead. Mandy's expression turns serious and she says that is dark, and she tells Cady that she needs to talk to someone who can interpret that shit. Mandy says she doesn't know much, but that she does know that shit is not good.

after Cady collects herself and goes home to get cleaned up really quick, she rushes into the Red Pony looking for and calling for Henry, but he's nowhere to be found. when Cady goes upstairs to stand in Henry's apartment, she has a flashback to the cellphone ringing and Henry hanging from the tree that she heard and saw in her vision.

******

later in the day, Cady goes back to the Red Pony again, still looking for Henry, and this time she finds Mathias there too. after searching the premises to no avail, one of the waitresses tells them that Henry hasn't been around for like a couple of days. when Cady sees Mathias, she asks him why he is also looking for Henry. Mathias tells her they found Henry's truck totaled on the res with no sign of Henry. Cady asks him when did he find Henry's truck. Mathias says early this morning. Cady asks Mathias if he finds Henry will he call her. Mathias nods and then he asks Cady why she is looking for Henry. Cady says she doesn't know, but she says she had a dream or like a vision during a sweat ceremony, and that she just has this feeling like Henry is in trouble. Mathias looks at her seriously and asks her what she saw. Cady says she saw Henry hanging from a tree, and she asks Mathias if he knows what that means. Mathias tells her it means that she shouldn't have helped Darius get released from jail. Cady asks what that has to do with anything.

Mathias tells her that Darius works for Malachi, and that Malachi wants to hurt Henry. Cady says she thought Malachi was missing. Mathias says he is, and then he tells Cady that he needs her to help him find Darius. Cady says she can't do that. Mathias tells her sure she can, because he says Darius is a client of hers, so he says Cady must have an address or a phone number where she can reach him. Cady tells Mathias that he arrested Darius, so she asks him why doesn't he already have that information. Mathias says Darius wasn't at home when they picked him up, and that the phone number Darius gave him after being arrested turned out to be fake, so he says he needs Cady to give him the real one. Cady repeats that she can't. Mathias looks at Cady incredulously and tells her that she is Henry's friend. Cady nods, and she says she is Darius's lawyer. Mathias looks disappointed and angrily tells Cady to call him if she changes her mind about which one of those is more important to her. then Mathias leaves, and Cady stands there with a sad expression as he goes.

after leaving the Red Pony, Cady goes back to her office on the res. when she passes by Cora to get to the front door, Cora nods at her amiably and says hi to her, hoping that Cady is all right after the mess she saw Cady was in last night, but Cady doesn't answer as she tries to avoid looking directly at Cora, not wanting to have another flashback of the way she saw Cora in her vision. after Cady goes inside, Cora just shrugs to herself as Cady apparently ignores her, and Cora continues to stand quietly at her post, deciding that Cady is just not in the best of moods today, and that it would be best to leave her alone for the time being. then while Cady is sitting down at her desk in her office, she recalls the part of her vision that showed her Henry hanging by his neck from a noose that was tied to a dead tree while somehow being still alive and trying to call someone on a cellphone, probably to call for help. then Cady stands up to make a phone call to Darius, but she only get's his answering machine. Cady leaves Darius a voice message in which she lies and claims that she was able to retrieve the money that Mathias confiscated from him when Darius was arrested, and she says she just wants to know what the best way is to get it to him.

Mathias goes to the sheriff's station to tell Walt that although he knows that Walt and Henry haven't been getting along with each other lately, he says he wants Walt to know that Henry could use his help right now. Walt asks why is that, and Mathias tells him because Henry is missing. Walt argues that he can't be bothered with this now because he has another case he cannot afford to drop, referring to the recent bank robbery that the mayor is on his ass about, and besides he says he's the last person who would know where Henry has gone. Mathias says he knows that, but that he also knows that Cady could help find Henry. Walt tells Mathias to go ask her then. Mathias says he already did, and that she refused to help because of her work ethics as a lawyer. Walt asks Mathias what is going on. Mathias tells Walt that Cady took on Darius Burns as a client. Walt says Cady would not work with a guy like that. Mathias says she would, and that she is, and that against his advice she sprung Darius from his jail after Mathias says he had arrested him. Walt asks so what. Mathias says so he thinks Darius is still working for Malachi.

Walt asks Mathias if he thinks Malachi is still alive. Mathias says yeah, he does, and that Malachi has got good reason to be pissed at Henry. Walt asks if that's because Henry blackmailed Malachi into signing the Red Pony back over to him. Mathias nods and says among other things, and he tells Walt that Henry and Nighthorse also banished Malachi from the res. Walt realizes the problem then and says now Mathias can't find Henry. Mathias says it's worse, and he shows Walt a photo of Henry's crashed truck, and he tells Walt that Henry is in real trouble. then Mathias asks Walt if he can get his daughter to tell him where to find Darius. Walt rushes out, taking only the time to tell Vic that he needs her to take over the bank robbery case while he has to go take care of something else. Vic asks what has happened to Henry. Walt says he doesn't know, but that he needs Vic to cover for him while he goes to find out. Vic complains about being left to deal with a case that could cost Walt his career, due to the mayor's threat to have Walt suspended if it doesn't get solved quickly enough. Walt says he understands her worry, but he insists that if he doesn't find Henry in time, then Henry might die. then Walt tells Vic that he trusts her, so Vic reluctantly agrees to do what he asked.


	35. 35

the next day, Walt stands in his cabin, sighing and worrying about what's going on with Henry, since no one can find him. while Walt does this, there are some ice cream bars that are still sitting out on Walt's kitchen table from when Walt got them out earlier, because he had some of his money hidden in the box with them, and he had taken them out of the freezer to get the money out to go and bury it with the rest of the money he was hoarding in his house, since Dave Milgrom had actually advised Walt to do just that, since Dave is seriously getting worried about Walt losing his civil trial at this point, and Walt had forgotten to put the ice cream bars back in the freezer, so now they are all melted and dripping off the side of the table. however, Walt doesn't care about that, and he pays no attention to the melted ice cream. then Walt picks up the cordless phone of his landline and uses it to call someone he knows who can track cellphones for him, and after identifying himself as the sheriff of Absaroka county, he asks the person on the other end of the line to track Cady's cellphone for him, even though it's illegal for him to do that without getting a warrant first. a little while later, Walt is still in his cabin waiting by his phone for a return call from the person he just talked to about tracking Cady's cellphone. Walt finally gets the call, which he takes immediately, and he quickly grabs a notepad and pen to write down the information that is about to be given to him.

meanwhile, Cady goes to Darius's house, after Darius finally called her back to invite her over to bring him his money, that Cady had lied to him about getting back for him from Mathias. when Cady gets to the address Darius gave her over the phone, Cady knocks on his door, and when Darius answers, he asks her if she is alone, because he says he thought he heard another car. with that, Darius peeks his head out of the door to look around suspiciously. Cady tells Darius no, and that it's just her. Darius says all right and motions for Cady to come inside his house. as soon as Cady walks in, Darius tells her to hand it over. Cady tells him that actually, before she gives him anything, she says they need to talk. Darius asks why. Cady says that because she is Darius's lawyer, anything they talk about stays in complete confidence, and that she can't tell anyone what he says to her, which she says is something called attorney-client privilege. Darius says yeah, and that he's heard of that. Cady says so she wants to ask him about Henry Standing Bear.

Darius says he doesn't want to talk about anything but his money, and he says to be honest, he doesn't even want to talk about that, because all he actually wants is for Cady to hand over the money she promised him and then leave. with that, Darius deliberately stands really close to Cady and gets in her face in order to intimidate her, and Darius tells Cady to just hand it over and then she can be on her way. Cady says about that, and she hesitates to finish her sentence. Darius angrily tells Cady that she doesn't really have it, and that she's just here to smoke him out. Cady tries to deny it, swearing that's not true, and she tries to back away from Darius. then Darius' anger really erupts, and he yells at Cady to give him his money, and he calls her a bitch, and he steps forward to put his face only inches away from hers.

just then, Walt shows up at Darius's front door with his rifle aimed at Darius, and Walt tells him not to take another step. Cady is surprised to see Walt there, and she says dad in a questioning tone, wondering why he is here. Darius turns to look at Walt, and Walt tells him to step away from his daughter while he continues to aim his rifle at Darius. Cady asks Walt what he is doing here, while Darius takes a step away from Cady. Walt tells Cady it's alright, and Cady steps away from Darius to go stand by the doorway where her father is. Walt tells Cady he just needs to ask Darius a few questions. Darius glares at Cady and says he knew he shouldn't have trusted her, and he says all them white people say they're here to help, but that really they are just here spying for the man, referring to law enforcement. Cady tells Darius to believe her when she says that she had nothing to do with calling Walt here, since that much is actually true. Darius tells her that he's not an idiot, and that he knows when sheriff Longmire shows up five minutes after his daughter, that's no coincidence.

Walt tells Darius that Cady did not know he was coming, because he admits that he had her cellphone traced. Cady looks at Walt incredulously, then she walks out of the house to go stand outside behind Walt. Darius says he also knows they are on the res, so neither of them can do a damn thing to stop him from walking out the door. with that, Darius walks out of the door to stand on the porch right in front of Walt's rifle barrel, as Walt continues to point it at him. Walt asks Darius why he doesn't tell him where Henry is. Darius lies and says he's not sure he knows a Henry, but that he does know that Walt isn't going to shoot him, and he says not with all the legal troubles he knows Walt is currently having. then Darius walks away to go to his truck that's parked outside his house with a big grin on his face. Walt calls after him to say that it will be better for Darius if he tells him now where Henry is, because Walt says he is going to find Henry, and then he says Darius will be in a world of trouble. Darius gets in his truck, and he looks out the window to say that Walt is assuming that he knows where this Henry guy is, and that Walt is also assuming that Henry will still be able to talk. Walt gets close enough to see inside Darius's truck, and Walt sees a food bag sitting in the passenger seat with a "Buffalo Betty's Burgers" logo on it, which Walt recognizes as a burger joint that's right outside the Crow reservation. then Darius drives away to leave Walt and Cady standing in his yard.

after Darius is gone, Walt tells Cady that she should not be working with guys like that. Cady tells Walt that he shouldn't be illegally tracing her cellphone, then Cady walks away to go back to her car. Walt follows her there, and when he gets there, he sees that Cady is sitting in her car, and that she is crying. Walt goes up to her driver's side window and questioningly calls her name to get her attention, not understanding exactly why she is crying. Cady is crying pretty hard, and she tells Walt that this is her fault, and she claims she did this to Henry. Walt reaches in to touch her arm, and he tells her to take it easy, and he says it's going to be ok. Cady shakes her head while continuing to cry, and she says no it's not, because she says Walt heard Darius practically admit that he did something to Henry, and she mournfully admits that she never should have let Darius out of jail. Walt tells Cady that Darius is just trying to scare them, and that Henry can take care of himself. Cady looks Walt in the eye and says no, and that Henry is in trouble, and that she knows he is, because she says he came to her in a dream. Walt looks at Cady seriously and asks her if she saw Henry in a dream, since Walt himself has had visions of Henry in the past as well, among other things. Cady nods and says she doesn't know how to explain it, but that she knows Henry is in trouble.

Cady continues to cry and Walt tells her that he believes her, but he says Darius isn't as smart as he thinks, and Walt says he now has an idea where he's been, and where to look for Henry. Cady asks how. Walt tells Cady about the food bag he saw in Darius's front seat from the burger place that's over by the Crow reservation, and that Mathias told him that Malachi had been banished from the tribe, so Walt says Malachi could be operating from there. Cady looks distraught and says the Crow reservation is huge, and she asks how Walt is going to find anybody there. Walt tells her he has a contact there, referring to the Crow medicine woman named Marilyn Yarlott, who Walt had to deal with before the last time he had to go to the Crow res for something, so he says he'll start there. Walt says meanwhile that he wants Cady to go home and lock the door, then Walt leaves to go to the Crow res and find Marilyn, to see if he can get her to help him find Henry.

******

while Walt is away, to go looking for Henry, Vic manages to solve the case that Walt had left her to deal with in his absence, in so far as she was able to identify the man who shot the bank's security guard, even though she wasn't able to capture the robber himself, since it actually turned out to be a local shopkeeper who accidentally shot the guard when the guard, along with the bank robber and a blogger who wanted to record the action, were all running past the shopkeeper's fly fishing tackle shop. and because the shopkeeper has poor eyesight, he mistook the security guard for the bank robber and shot him while mistakenly trying to be a hero, and Vic was able to get the shopkeeper to confess and turn himself in. afterward, Vic goes to the mayor's office to talk to Sawyer and get him to agree to leave Walt alone now that she has solved the shooting part of the bank robbery, even though the identity of the robber is still a mystery. however, Vic doesn’t tell Sawyer that she and Ferg did it without Walt, and she actually gives Walt all the credit for it. Sawyer tells Vic that Walt is going to lose the trial, and that he's going to lose his job, and he says then Vic is going to be on her own, so he asks her if she is sure she wants to be talking to him like this. Vic just says absolutely and then she leaves, slamming the door of Sawyer's office shut behind her.

******

Marilyn had found Henry staked out in the desert the first day that Malachi had brought him out to the Crow res, but instead of releasing Henry after using her rifle to shoot and kill the three guys who Malachi had left behind to guard Henry, Marilyn had decided to leave it up to the spirits to decide if Henry should be freed, and she had left three colored bags on the ground next to Henry, one white, one yellow, and one red. and when she came back with Walt a few days later to bring Walt to the place where Henry was tied down, she saw that Henry had been freed from his bindings, and that two of her colored bags were missing, so that only the red one was left. Marilyn assumed this to mean that Henry got help from the spirits, and that Henry must be a true warrior. then Marilyn had disappeared when Walt went to go find Henry laying unconscious on the ground nearby among some dead wood, not too far away from the spot with the wooden stakes that Malachi had used to bind Henry to the ground.

eventually, despite Marilyn leaving them without any water when she disappeared, and despite being bitten by a rattlesnake on the way out, Walt manages to rescue Henry in time by dragging him eight miles through the desert to make it back to his truck, and they both survive the trip and make it to the hospital in time to get treatment. unfortunately though, Walt recognizes the wooden stakes that Henry was tied to, because they are somewhat distinct, and Walt had seen them in Nighthorse's yard before, and because Henry is still too weak to fully explain everything that happened to him yet, Walt automatically assumes that Nighthorse is really the one behind the torture and attempted murder of Henry, just as Malachi had planned would happen if Henry was ever found. also, Walt brought all three of the stakes back with him and Henry on their trip out of the desert, because Walt had actually needed to use them to build a makeshift sledge to assist him in dragging Henry the long distance to his truck.


	36. 36

when Jacob hears about some of what happened to Henry, although he doesn't know all of the details yet, Jacob is glad to know that Henry survived. but Jacob really starts to fear for his own life now, because he does not have Walt to protect him like Henry does, and Jacob no longer really trusts any of his personal security guards to be able to protect him from Malachi either, due to the level of incompetence they have already shown. Jacob doesn't want to pull Cora away from Cady's office, but he feels like he will have to, if he wants to have any chance to survive Malachi's attacks, which are sure to keep coming until Malachi is finally either captured or killed by someone.

******

while Henry is still in the hospital recovering from his ordeal in the desert, Walt brings all three of Nighthorse's wooden stakes with him to Cady's office on the res, in order to present them to Cady as proof that Nighthorse is evil, knowing that if Cady has ever been to Nighthorse's house, then she has probably seen those stakes before too, since Jacob regularly uses them in his Dog Soldier rituals. when Walt gets to Cady's office on the res to deliver Nighthorse's stakes to Cady, Cora is there, standing guard by the door like she's supposed to, and when Cady comes out of her office to meet Walt, Walt asks Cora to give them a little privacy. Cora looks at Cady for her approval of this, and Cady nods at her to indicate that she would like to speak with her father alone, so Cora agrees to walk away from the building a little ways out of earshot of their conversation.

Cora does notice the wooden stakes that Walt brought for Cady, since they are pretty obvious, and Walt wasn't making any effort to hide them, but Cora hasn't been to Jacob's house before, so she has no idea where they came from, or why Walt is bringing them to Cady, and Cora doesn't see them as suspicious since they are apparently just decorative-looking wooden stakes that she assumes are for decorating Cady's office. Cady does recognize the stakes from Jacob's yard from when she had visited him at his home before, which she did a couple of times after going to work for him, and Walt explains to her how and where he got them, which he does in a low voice so Cora doesn't overhear. then Walt leaves the stakes sitting there outside Cady's office, propped up against the wall by her door, and he walks away to get back in his truck and leave, in order to send Cady a message about her involvement with Nighthorse, which Walt clearly does not approve of, especially now.

unfortunately the ploy works just as Walt intended, and Cady is filled with rage as she becomes convinced that Jacob has betrayed her by hurting Henry, but she doesn't let on about it while she's still at the office, because the last thing Cady wants is for Cora to find out what Cady knows, at least for now, because Cady doesn't trust Cora not to side with Jacob, even if Cora were to learn about what Cady thinks that Jacob did to Henry. Cady just calmly tells Cora that she has to leave the office to go and run and errand, and Cora doesn't see any problem with that, so Cora stays at the office to continue guarding it while Cady is gone. what Cora didn't notice was that Cady snuck one of the wooden stakes that Walt left her by hiding it under a long coat that she put on, and Cady goes straight over to Jacob's house to confront him with it. the security guards at Jacob's house barely pay any attention to Cady when she comes there, they don't notice the wooden stake under her coat either, and they just let her waltz right onto Jacob's property with no supervision because they know that she is an employee of Jacob's, and one who has visited him before.

Cady waits patiently for Jacob in his back yard, and when he comes over to say hi to her, Cady immediately pulls out the wooden stake that she was hiding under her coat, and without any warning, she proceeds to beat Jacob savagely with it while screaming accusations at him that he betrayed her by torturing Henry and trying to have Henry killed. Jacob is completely shocked by Cady's unexpected act of violence against him, and after she knocks him down by hitting him in the head with her first swing, Cady continues to swing the stake at him, which she is now using as a club to hit Jacob over and over, while Jacob just crouches on the ground defensively while trying to shield himself from her blows, because he doesn't want to risk hurting Cady by retaliating. eventually the security guards finally make it over there to help Jacob, and they manage to stop Cady by grabbing her and pulling the stake out of her hands that she was using as a weapon against their boss.

after Jacob gets up off the ground, and Cady has calmed down a little, Jacob implores her to listen to him for just a minute, and he says for what it's worth, he has an alternate explanation. when Cady chooses to keep her mouth shut for the moment to go ahead and hear him out, Jacob adamantly tells her that he did not do this to Henry, and that it was Malachi who did this, and that Malachi stole Jacob's stakes to frame him for the crime, and even though Cady doesn't believe him, Jacob manages to convince her that she should at least ask for Henry's opinion on the subject before she goes swinging a big stick again. at that point, Cady finally realizes that it was probably a pretty stupid idea for her to go and do this sort of thing to Jacob without at least talking to Henry first, although she won't admit it out loud yet. and despite the brutality and unfairness of her sneak attack on him, Jacob is still nice enough to let Cady leave without trying to press any charges against her, and he doesn't even bother to fire her from her job at the legal aid clinic that he's still fully funding either.

******

meanwhile, Walt is driving his truck down a highway and talking to Vic, who is riding with him, about their current murder case, when Walt sees another vehicle pass them on the highway, and Walt notices it happens to look a lot like Malachi's personal vehicle. Walt steps on the gas to follow the other vehicle, and Walt instantly becomes wholly convinced that it really is Malachi, even though he hasn't actually seen the other driver at all yet. Vic gets worried and asks Walt what he is doing. Walt points at the vehicle in front of them and asks Vic if she recognizes it. Vic looks at it, and she says no. Walt says well, he does, and he speeds up even more to chase down the other vehicle ahead of them, although he doesn't even bother to turn on his siren or his lights to properly signal the other driver to pull over. 

instead, Walt pulls out into the opposite lane to drive side-by-side with the other vehicle while trying to get a look at the driver, even though they have just entered a no-passing zone, and despite the fact that he has Vic in the truck with him. then an oncoming vehicle starts honking at them from just ahead, and Walt has to slam on his breaks, and he just barely manages to swerve back into the correct lane in time in order to avoid being hit head on. immediately afterwards, Walt continues to pursue the other vehicle by speeding back up and pulling back out into the opposite lane to drive right next to it again, then Walt takes his eyes off the road for extended periods of time as he struggles again to crane his neck and look over his shoulder to try in vain to see who is at the wheel of the other vehicle.

when Walt fails to identify the other driver this way, Walt decides to recklessly cut off the other vehicle by swerving right in front of it and slamming on his breaks at the same time, in order to deliberately stop and position his own truck sideways right in front of the other vehicle to make it stop, despite the fact that Vic would be the first one to get hit and probably killed by the other vehicle if it failed to stop in time. in fact, as it turns out, the other driver is actually not able to stop in time due to Walt's insane maneuver, and the other driver only narrowly avoids t-boning the passenger side of Walt's truck by quickly swerving to drive off the side of the road just in time to avoid the crash, which would have been entirely Walt's fault had it occurred, and very likely would have killed Vic along with the other driver and maybe even Walt himself. as soon as the other vehicle comes to a stop in the weeds off the side of the road, Walt jumps out of his truck while yelling Malachi's name at the other driver. then Walt runs over to the driver's side door of the other vehicle and angrily orders the driver to get out of that car.

while Vic gets out of Walt's truck and yells at him to stop, Walt ignores her and slings open the driver's side door of the other vehicle and proceeds to forcefully drag the man out from inside, yelling for him to come here as he does it. and even when Walt sees that it is actually not Malachi, although Walt sees that he is an Indian, Walt slams the man against the side of his vehicle and tells him that this is Malachi's car, and Walt angrily demands him to say where Malachi is. the poor man frantically asks Walt who Malachi is, and Walt belligerently tells him again to say where Malachi is. the man screams that he doesn't know, and Vic grabs Walt's arm to try and make him stop accosting the man, but Walt continues doing it anyway, while repeatedly accusing the man of knowing where Malachi is.

Vic finally pushes her way in between Walt and the other man, so she can push Walt away from him, while Walt maniacally continues yelling and repeating that the man knows where Malachi is while angrily pointing his finger at him. Vic screams at Walt to stop, and Walt still yells at the man to ask him why he is driving Malachi's car. the other man yells back that this is his car. Walt still orders him to tell him where Malachi is anyway, and to tell him now, while Vic continues struggling to keep Walt off of the man. the shaken man only repeats that this is his car. finally Walt stops as he realizes, perhaps, that he has just made a huge and very stupid mistake.


	37. 37

soon after Cady leaves his property, Jacob wearily sits down in his living room to recover from his beating, and because he does not feel safe in his own home anymore, despite the plethora of security guards he has surrounding his house, he calls Cora on her cellphone to ask her to come over. on the phone, Cora asks Jacob if he is ok, because his voice sounds kind of strained to her. Jacob says no, not really, and he says he needs her help. Cora is alarmed by this, and she agrees to come over right away. Cora drives her truck from the legal aid clinic to Jacob's house as fast as she reasonably can, while she worries that something bad has happened to her boss, who has also become her friend by this point.

when Cora gets to Jacob's house, the other security guards are there to meet her in the front yard, and they agree to let her pass when she tells them that Jacob called her, even though he had already told them ahead of time that Cora was on her way to see him at his request, but they are extra paranoid now since Cady's attack, and they are afraid of getting fired if they let the same thing happen again. Cora is let inside the house to meet Jacob in his living room, and as soon as he sees her, he kicks the rest of the security guards out of his house to make them go do extra patrols outside, and he tells them if they don't like it then they can just leave and don't come back. the guards who Jacob spoke to this way look a bit indignant about this, but they agree to do what he says for now.

after they are left alone in the house by the other guards, because Cora can tell that Jacob is upset, she asks him what is wrong. when Jacob doesn't answer right away, Cora walks closer to were he is sitting on the couch, and she is surprised to see the big bruise on his forehead. Cora sits down beside him to get a closer look at that bruise, and she sternly asks him who did this, as she reaches out to briefly stroke the side of Jacob's head next to the bruise out of instinctive concern. Jacob allows the touch, and he thanks Cora for coming to him so quickly. Cora pulls her hand back and asks him to tell her what happened. Jacob says Cora is not going to believe this, but he says Cady came to visit him a little while ago, and that she attacked him without warning, because she thought he did something bad to their friend Henry.

Cora looks at Jacob with a perplexed expression and asks him in surprise if he means that Cady Longmire is the one who did this. Jacob nods and says yeah, and his expression becomes distraught as he says that Cady's dad finally brainwashed her into thinking that he is this really bad person who would do something like torture and try to kill Henry. Cora is surprised again and asks who is Henry and why was he tortured, since she is not exactly sure which Henry he might be talking about. Jacob says that Henry is a mutual friend of his and the Longmire's, and who was recently kidnapped by Malachi. Cora nods at that as she recalls a particular Indian man she had seen visit Cady at her office before a few times, and she thinks he must be the Henry who Jacob is referring to, the one who put the eagle feather on Cady's rifle. Jacob says Walt was able to rescue him, thankfully, but he says that Walt found his missing stakes at the crime scene, because he says Malachi stole them from his yard to frame him for what happened to Henry. Cora goes quiet while she processes this load of bad news.

Jacob has the stake that was confiscated from Cady propped against the couch beside him, and he picks it up to show Cora. Jacob explains that Cady hid this in her coat when she came to his house, and when he went outside to say hi to her, she just started beating him with it, like out of nowhere. after contemplating that for a moment with a stern expression, Cora quickly stands up and takes the stake from Jacob to feel its weight, and she smacks it hard against one of her hands to test it against herself, accidentally causing Jacob to flinch a little at the sound it makes, as he recalls being hit with it by Cady. Cora finds that the stake is roughly the same size and weight as a baseball bat, and picturing Cady, of all people, beating Jacob with this thing makes her especially angry. Cora then hands the stake back to Jacob while gritting her teeth, then she starts angrily pacing around the room near Jacob's couch as her mind races.

Jacob is not sure he has ever seen Cora quite so angry, and he is a little surprised to see her reacting so strongly to this, and because Cora's pacing is making him nervous, he asks her to come and sit back down with him, patting the couch cushion next to him to beckon her. Cora stops pacing, and after a moment of just standing there with a blank expression, she goes to sit back down by Jacob since he asked her to. when she does that, Cora lets out an angry sigh that sounds more like a hiss, as she runs both of her hands through her hair in frustration, and she asks Jacob if he is going to press charges against Cady. Jacob says no, because he asks even if he wanted to, then what good would that do. Jacob reminds Cora that his house is not on the res, and he asks who is he supposed to call besides Walt. Cora scoffs in disgust as she fully realizes the almost comical futility of that idea. Jacob tells Cora not to worry about Cady right now though, because he says he was able to convince Cady to at least go talk to Henry, and hear his side of the story about what happened to him, and who really did it to him.

Cora looks at Jacob incredulously as she continues to struggle with the idea that Cady could go flying so far off the deep end. Cora balls both of her hands into fists, and she says angrily that she should have been here with Jacob to stop this from happening to him. Jacob is touched by Cora's show of concern for him, and although he technically agrees with her, and is glad to see that she is already showing signs of being amenable to the request he intends to make of her, he tells Cora no, because he says that she was exactly where she was supposed to be, guarding the legal aid clinic just like he told her to. 

Cora gives Jacob a look that expresses just how much hearing that does not make her feel any better, and she regretfully explains how she was there when Walt showed up to visit Cady at the office, and how she saw the wooden stakes he brought to Cady, not knowing what they were for, because she didn't recognize them as Jacob's, and how she backed off to give them some space to talk privately out of respect for Cady when Walt asked her to do that. Cora tells Jacob that she feels really stupid for agreeing to do that now, and she admits that she didn't even notice that Cady was upset at all when Cady said she was leaving to go run an errand. Cora curses at herself for trusting Cady so much, and for not paying enough attention to Walt when he came by, and for missing the opportunity to spare Jacob from this senseless beating.

seeing Cora this upset worries Jacob, and after quietly saying whoa in surprise of Cora's reaction to all of this, he scoots a little closer to her and rests a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down as he tells her that this is not her fault, and that no one saw this coming, because he admits that Cady took everyone by surprise today, including him and his entire security team, and then he reminds Cora that it is really Malachi they need to be worried about right now. Cora realizes that Jacob is right, and that Jacob's life is in serious danger now considering what Malachi just did to this Henry guy, although she still doesn't understand why Malachi attacked Henry, because Jacob didn't tell her about the banishment. Cora asks Jacob why Malachi attacked Henry. Jacob then explains that he banished Malachi from the tribe with Henry's help, and that together they forced Malachi to sign Henry's bar back over to him, because he says Malachi had taken over the Red Pony to use it for laundering dirty money from the Irish mob. 

Cora thinks about that for a moment with a serious expression as she only just begins to realize how deep this whole thing goes, then she asks Jacob if he has any idea where Malachi is now. Jacob says he isn't sure, because he says he hasn't gotten the chance to speak with Henry himself yet about where he was taken by Malachi, although Jacob says he hopes to do that pretty soon. then Jacob says that for now at least, he wants Cora to forget about the legal aid clinic and just stay with him instead, because he says especially after what just happened with Cady, he feels like he is running out of people that he can trust. Cora nods and says of course, and that she will be happy to provide Jacob with personal protection if he needs it. Jacob nods back and gives Cora a grateful look, and he tells her thanks as he pats her on her shoulder appreciatively.

then Jacob stands up to stretch a little, and he winces from the pain of the many sore spots he has now on his upper body where Cady hit him. then Jacob walks over to his desk in the living room and bends over it to rest his hands on it while he continues to stand, and he hangs his head in worry and frustration over what is happening to him, with everything involving Malachi, Henry, Cady, Walt, and the Irish mob. Cora sees this, and she stands up from the couch to tentatively walk over and stand a bit closer to Jacob, while feeling kind of awkward, because she's not exactly sure how to proceed with this new assignment. Cora feels bad for Jacob and wants to make him feel better, because she likes him, but she doesn't want to overstep her bounds with her boss, and she's not sure exactly how much privacy Jacob wants her to give him now that she has become his personal bodyguard.

when Jacob doesn't move or say anything for a while, Cora takes another step forward and calls his name quietly, while peering at him curiously, and she asks him what he wants her to do right now, and she asks if he wants her to just stay here, or if there's a certain place he wants her to stand or patrol or something. Jacob lets out a soft sigh, then he raises his head to turn and look at Cora, and he turns his body around to sit on the edge of his desk to face her. Jacob looks back at Cora with curiosity for a long moment while he thinks about it, then he tells her that he has no specific instructions for her right now, and that he will just trust her judgment on how to proceed with things here until something changes. Jacob also tells her that he has a guest room in the house where she can sleep between her shifts, and that he will show her to it. with that, Jacob pushes himself off the desk to stand, and he winces again at a sharp pain in his shoulder, and he stops for a moment to rub it and groan just a little. Cora takes another step forward and holds out her hand to Jacob, wanting to touch his shoulder, but she stops herself and pulls her hand back to instead just ask Jacob if he wants her to get him anything, and she asks him if he is thirsty or anything, while wanting to be as helpful as possible without going too overboard.

Jacob stops rubbing his shoulder, and he blinks softly at Cora while thanking her for that, but he says no, and that she doesn't have to do that. then Jacob sighs again and looks down at the floor, and he rubs the sore spot on his forehead while trying to hide his sad expression. seeing Jacob like this breaks Cora's heart, and she goes ahead and goes to him to put her hand gently on his shoulder, and when Jacob doesn't flinch or try to move away from her, Cora moves her hand to his back and rubs it a little while she tells him not to worry, because she says she isn't going to let anything bad happen to him, certainly not anything like what happened to Henry, and she says assuringly that much she can promise him. Jacob lowers his hand from his face while he closes his eyes and breathes a sigh of relief upon hearing that, and he continues to look at the floor for another moment, then he looks up at Cora with a hopeful expression, and he says he doesn't know how to tell her how much he appreciates hearing that right now. Cora says it's no problem, and she moves her hand away from Jacob while she continues to stand close, regarding him with a mixture of concern and affection.

Jacob looks at her wonderingly, having mixed feelings about Cora's proximity, but not wanting to move away from her just yet. Jacob already likes Cora quite a bit, and he also thinks she is very pretty for a white woman, but he is nervous about what kinds of things he suspects she might be able to do, and he is still somewhat perplexed by her nature and whatever drives her. while Jacob continues to stare at her curiously, Cora takes a breath, wondering if she is doing the right thing, and she tells Jacob a bit shyly that she is not trying to be weird, but she says it looks like he could use a hug right about now, and she asks him if he wants one, as she holds her hands out to her sides invitingly to indicate that she is willing to give him one if he should see fit to accept the offer. it isn't lost on Cora that Jacob apparently has no really close friends or relatives in the area, because the only other people she has ever seen him with so far are those that he just seems to have professional relationships with, both on and off the res, in which case he has no one to provide him with any comfort when he has problems to deal with that are more personal in nature. Jacob raises his eyebrows and looks a little nervous at Cora's suggestion, but he nods and carefully steps forward to accept the hug Cora is offering him.

Cora readily takes Jacob into her arms, while being mindful of his sore condition, so she only lightly rests her hands against his back, and then she rubs it lightly when he puts his own arms around her in return, and squeezes her around the middle while he rests his head on her shoulder. when Jacob relaxes more in her embrace, Cora slides one of her hands up to the back of his neck and gently squeezes it for a moment before moving her hand up further to his head so she can stroke the back of Jacob's mohawk. while she holds him this way, Cora whispers to Jacob, telling him it's ok, and not to worry, because she says she is here, so she says he is safe now. Jacob feels quite relieved to finally have someone on his side who can actually do things for him that he needs, and he squeezes his arms around Cora, and presses himself to her a little harder to try and express his gratitude for that. 

Cora easily allows this, and she is content to continue holding Jacob for as long as he wants. after a few moments of this, Jacob suddenly realizes that he is starting to feel aroused by this, so he moves to pull himself away from Cora before his response to her can get too far out of hand. Cora lets him go and rubs the side of his arm for a moment before stepping back to give him some breathing room. Cora sees that Jacob looks a little flushed, but she doesn't take it to mean anything besides that Jacob is understandably stressed out by all the shit that's going on, and she just hopes that she doesn't accidentally do something to make anything worse for him.

Jacob then motions for Cora to follow him so he can show her that guest room he promised her, and she follows him down the hall from the living room to where it is. Jacob stands by the doorway of the guest room to show it to her, and she thanks him for it, even though she doesn't plan on doing much sleeping while she is on this particular assignment. then Jacob says that he could use some rest himself, and Cora agrees by saying she thinks that's a good idea, and she tells Jacob that he should probably go lay down for a while. Jacob nods and then turns to make his way to his own room, and Cora follows him there, but she stops at the doorway when Jacob walks inside. Jacob turns around to look at her, and Cora tells him that she will be nearby in case he needs anything. Jacob nods and says thanks, then Cora moves away from Jacob's bedroom to go down to the end of the relatively short hallway where a few chairs are set against the wall there.

Cora sits down in one of the chairs that gives her a decent view of the living room beyond the hallway. after several moments of silence, Cora feels inclined to get up and do some patrols around the house, or even go outside to look around the perimeter of the property, but she decides against it for now, not feeling right about leaving Jacob alone in the house while he's sleeping. she eventually does get up to at least do a quick sweep of the inside of the house and familiarize herself with the layout, and she glances around at some of the Indian artwork and artifacts that she sees Jacob has decorated his entire house with, but after finding nothing of concern, she simply goes back to the chair in the hall that she was sitting in before, to continue guarding Jacob's bedroom in particular, which is only a few yards away from that position.


	38. 38

following Henry's release from the hospital, Cady drives out to Walt's cabin, expecting to find her father there, since she wasn't able to find him at the sheriff's station. Cady intends to confront Walt about what she thinks he unfairly made her do to Jacob, as she has already come to suspect that Jacob might have been telling the truth about Malachi framing him for what happened to Henry. Cady has come to realize by this point that explanation does actually make more sense than Jacob wanting to murder Henry by slowly torturing him to death, especially since Cady has failed to come up with even one remotely realistic motive for why Jacob would want to do such a thing, although she knows all too well that her father would just assume that Jacob would do something that ridiculously heinous just to torment Walt personally. but Cady already knows that idea doesn't make any sense, because she has at least figured out that even if Jacob did want to kill Henry for some reason, Cady knows Jacob well enough herself by now, after working directly with him for some time, to know that he wouldn't likely choose such a slow and cumbersome way of getting the job done, because she knows how Jacob is such a stickler for efficiency.

when Cady gets out of her car in Walt's driveway, she is carrying the two other wooden stakes with her that Walt had left earlier at her office on the res, minus the one that Jacob's guards had confiscated from her after she had brutally attacked Jacob with it. Cady carries the stakes with her as she walks quickly up to the front door of Walt's cabin and loudly knocks on the door. when Henry answers the door, Cady says his name while looking surprised to see him there. Cady tells him that she didn't realize he would be here. Henry half-jokingly says that her father is holding him hostage, and Henry smiles and asks her to come on in. Cady carries the stakes with her into the cabin as she follows Henry into the kitchen, and after seeing that her father is not there right now, she asks Henry how he is, and if he's feeling better. Henry says he's getting there, although he says Walt's bedside manner is not unlike a barbed-wire fence, so he says he is obviously not here for his health.

then Henry admits that he told Walt that he would stay here on one condition. Cady asks which is what. Henry says that Walt is not to harass Jacob Nighthorse. Cady rolls her eyes and laughs a little upon hearing that, and she says that Walt didn't have to do that, since she says he got her to do it for him. Henry looks a bit confused by that, and he asks Cady if Walt told her to go after Nighthorse. Cady says not exactly, but that he got her to do it anyway, since she says he knows her better than she thought. with that, she angrily drops the two stakes she was holding to prop them against the wall in the kitchen with a loud thump and clatter. then Cady goes to slump down in a chair at the kitchen table, and while she holds her forehead wearily, she sighs.

after a long pause, Cady asks Henry in a worried tone if he thinks there is any possibility that Jacob was involved with what happened to him, and she looks at him seriously for an answer. Henry looks back at her squarely and says no, and that he actually thinks that Nighthorse is the next target. Cady incredulously asks him so it was only Malachi behind this whole thing. Henry nods affirmatively. then Cady says and Malachi used Darius to do it, and she cries oh, and starts sort of laughing and crying at the same time as she goes back to holding her head in shame. then, in a distraught tone, Cady tells Henry that the Darius part is her own fault, since she admits that she's the one who got Darius released from jail, and that if he were still behind bars, but instead of finishing her sentence, Cady just shakes her head in shame.

Henry interrupts her by calling Cady's name to get her attention, and Cady asks what. Henry sits down with her and strongly insists that none of this is her fault. Cady argues that it is, because she says she keeps making these stupid, impulsive choices, and that she let her dad whip her up into a frenzy about Jacob, and she says she thinks she got thrown off by something she saw. Henry looks curious and asks her what did she see. Cady says it was a vision from a sweat, and that she saw Jacob covered in blood on Walt's land. Henry asks her if she took that as a sign. Cady says she had seen other things which had turned out to be true, because she says she saw Henry too, and she insists that was real, because she says it turned out that Henry really was in trouble. Cady says and after seeing Jacob and the blood, she just…but Cady just trails off. Henry asks if she made a misinterpretation perhaps.

Cady holds her head again sadly while Henry tells her that maybe Nighthorse was just trying to get her attention to tell her that something was wrong. Cady says so Nighthorse was just trying to help, and Henry nods, and Cady asks and what did she do then but beat the shit out of him with a wooden stake. Cady shakes her head and sadly admits that she let her dad's obsession with Jacob get to her. Henry tells Cady to go easy on her dad, because he says the bad thing about her father is he does not stop, but that the good thing about her father is he does not stop. Henry says if Walt had stopped, then he would be dead now. Cady nods and says she knows that Walt will be happy about one thing. Henry asks and what is that. Cady says that after today, she doesn't think she's working for Nighthorse anymore.

then after a few moments of silence, Cady speaks up again to tell Henry that there was something else she saw in her vision that still bothers her. Henry asks what was it, still very interested in hearing Cady talk about her vision. Cady says she saw Cora, who she says is the security guard that Jacob sent to watch over her office, and she says that Cora looked really angry, and that she then appeared to change into something, something that Cady says wasn't human anymore, or even that looked like a living thing. Henry raises his eyebrows and asks Cady in a serious tone what it was that she saw Cora change into. Cady says she doesn't know, because she says she can't describe it, but she admits it really scared her, probably even more than anything else she saw in that vision.

Henry looks at her with a concerned expression, but he reminds her to be careful of how she interprets things from her vision. Cady nods, but she tells Henry that she doesn't expect Cora to be very happy with her when she finds out about what she did to Jacob. Henry sighs with a worried expression, and he tells Cady to stay away from her office then, for a few days at least, until things with Jacob have cooled down some. Cady nods and says she will, especially since she doesn't think that Jacob will want her anywhere near his legal aid clinic anymore anyway, which makes Cady feel pretty sad. and although Henry doesn't want to say so out loud, because he doesn't want to scare Cady any more than she already has been, Henry is honestly worried about what Cady said she saw in her vision about Cora in particular, because Henry has been hearing plenty of rumors from his many friends on the res about Cora, and nothing about Cora sits well with Henry right now.


	39. 39

later on, after Cady leaves her dad's house, Jacob calls Henry on his cellphone to find out how he's doing. Henry says he is doing ok now, and Jacob explains that he wanted to visit him in the hospital, but that he was too afraid of running into Walt there. Henry tells him that is ok, and that it was probably for the best that Jacob decided to stay away from there, if only for that reason. Jacob asks Henry if he's back at the Red Pony now, and Henry tells him not yet, and that he is actually at Walt's cabin right now, because he says he made a deal with Walt, in which he made Walt promise not to bother Jacob for a while in exchange for Henry agreeing to stay at Walt's place for protection for a few days. Jacob says oh, and he thanks Henry for doing that, and he also says he's glad that Henry is there, since Jacob is justifiably still very worried about Malachi continuing to come after the both of them, and he knows that Walt will protect Henry. Henry asks Jacob if he feels safe enough at his own house, and Jacob says that he does now that he's finally got a good bodyguard that he can trust to watch over him.

Henry takes a guess and asks if this new bodyguard happens to be Cora by chance, remembering what Cady had said about Cora possibly being angry about what Cady did to Jacob. Jacob says yeah, and he asks Henry how he guessed that. Henry thinks about the rumors he has heard about some of Cora's purported abilities, although he has yet to witness any of them himself, but if even half of those rumors are true, then Henry is not exactly thrilled by the idea of Jacob having someone like that on his payroll, especially now that Jacob has admitted to making her into his personal bodyguard. however, Henry also realizes that he can hardly fault Jacob for utilizing Cora that way under the extreme circumstances they are currently facing, and he is at least glad to know that Jacob may have some decent protection now in case Malachi should target him next, because even though Henry still doesn't like Jacob all that much, he doesn't want him to get hurt. 

Henry just says it makes sense, since he doesn't want to give too much away about what he has heard about Cora, and he also says it is because he suspects that Jacob will no longer be needing Cora's services at the legal aid office. Jacob asks Henry why he would assume that, and Henry explains that Cady came by to visit Walt yesterday, and he says since Walt wasn't there at the time, that Cady sat down to talk with him instead, and that she told him about what she did to Jacob with one of his ceremonial stakes that Walt had given her, in order to turn her against Jacob, at least that's the way Henry says Cady described the situation to him herself.

Jacob sighs at the painful memory of Cady's attack, and he tells Henry yeah, and says that Cady was pretty pissed, to acknowledge that the beating really did happen, and that he understands why it happened, and Jacob adds that Malachi framed him up pretty good there. Henry says that he got Cady to understand that Jacob was not involved in his attack, and he says that she expressed remorse over her actions, and that she is also fully expecting Jacob to fire her for what she did to him. Jacob says that he has not committed to that choice yet, but he says he would be pretty surprised if Cady still wanted to work for him anyway. Henry says that Cady did not look or sound happy about the idea of being fired from her job. Jacob says that's good, but he admits that unless Cady manages to give him a serious apology, then he says he doesn't know how he could realistically continue working with someone like that.

then Henry tells Jacob that Cady told him something else he thinks Jacob should know, and Henry tells him about certain parts of the vision that Cady also described having to him, which he says Cady had before she knew that he was in trouble, and Henry says that after she saw himself hanging from a noose, that she also saw Jacob standing on her father's property while covered with blood, which Henry says seemed to scare Cady. when Jacob goes quiet for a moment or two upon hearing that, Henry goes on to say that he told Cady that perhaps Jacob was just trying to warn her about something, and Henry says that made her feel bad about attacking him. Jacob just says uh-huh, in a quiet tone, to let Henry know he's still listening, and Henry suggests that what Cady saw in her vision might have exacerbated the situation with Jacob being framed by Malachi for trying to kill him. Jacob says he doesn't know about that, and he will have to think about it some more, and he thanks Henry for sharing the information.

Henry says ok, then he changes the subject back to Malachi, and he asks Jacob if he would consider handing over the financial ledgers of both the Red Pony and Jacob's casino, which prove all of Malachi's illegal activities with the Irish mob, over to Walt, as a show of good faith. Jacob is skeptical about that, and he asks Henry why he thinks that Walt wouldn't just find a way to turn everything against him as soon as he got his hands on those things. Henry says because he will stand by Jacob himself when he hands Walt the books, to make sure Walt understands that Jacob is on board with him. Jacob still says he doesn't know about that, because he is legitimately worried that Walt is never going to be able to see him as anything but a criminal, no matter what he does, due to their long history of antagonism with each other. Henry tells Jacob that he should just come over anyway, and bring the books with him, and just see how things go with Walt before he decides if he wants to hand them over, and Henry says that while Jacob is here, he can also go ahead and pick up his other two stakes that Cady left behind at Walt's cabin, since they do still belong to Jacob after all.

Jacob reluctantly agrees, but he says he will only do it if Henry is ok with him bringing Cora along for protection. Henry does not like that idea much at all though, and he argues that Jacob won't be needing Cora while he is way out here at Walt's place. Jacob argues that Henry can't know that, and he insists that he isn't going anywhere without her right now, not while Malachi is still running loose, and he says if Henry really wants him to do this, then this is how it's got to be. Henry sighs and reluctantly agrees to let Jacob bring Cora to their meeting with Walt, hoping that Jacob will be willing to turn over Malachi's financial ledgers to Walt when the time comes. Jacob tells Henry not to worry, because he says Cora is very disciplined, and that she's not going to do anything crazy unless he actually gets attacked. Henry worriedly says that he does not want Cora doing anything crazy under any circumstances. Jacob laughs and says assuringly that Cora will only do what's necessary to protect him, and also Henry if he requires it while they are there, and maybe even Walt if he doesn't piss her off too much. Henry sighs worriedly again at the thought of Cora coming to Walt's place, but he tells Jacob all right, and he asks him to come over later in the afternoon while Walt is still at work, and he says that way they can prepare themselves for the meeting before he gets home, so he says they can make sure that Walt gets the best impression of Jacob. Jacob agrees to do it, and he says he will see Henry later, and then they hang up.

******

after Jacob and Cora both go over to Walt's place to visit Henry, while Walt is still at work, just like Henry agreed for them to, Jacob and Henry sit in the kitchen of Walt's cabin and talk about where they all should be around the time when Walt gets home, while Cora just stands calmly a little ways off to Jacob's side. Jacob half-jokingly says that maybe he should go hide somewhere until after Henry breaks the news to Walt about who is at his house, in case he says if Walt goes ballistic. Henry says no, and that he thinks it would be better for Jacob to sit outside on the porch in a non-threatening pose, so that Walt will see Jacob right away when he pulls up, because Henry says he knows that hiding from Walt will only just make Walt even more angry. Jacob sighs and says he sees Henry's point there, and he agrees to do what Henry said, but Jacob also says he hopes that Walt won't decide to attack him on sight like his daughter just did. Henry sighs sadly at the thought of what Cady did to Jacob, and he assures Jacob that Walt tends to have a little more self-control than that. Jacob laughs nervously and says they will see, and he asks Henry what about Cora.

Cora, who has just been standing quietly in the room while the two men have been talking to each other, perks up at the mention of her name. Henry looks at her and says he thinks it would be best for her to stay inside with him until after Walt gets over the initial shock of seeing Jacob sitting on his porch. Cora speaks up then, to argue against that, saying she doesn't want to leave Jacob outside by himself, and she looks to Jacob for an answer. Jacob thinks about it for a moment, and then says that she may have a point there. Henry argues that seeing Jacob by himself out there is going to be bad enough, and that Walt could feel even more threatened by seeing the two of them at the same time on his property. Cora argues with Henry by saying that she thought he just said that hiding from Walt is what would make Walt angrier. Henry admits that is true, but he says at the time he was not picturing Cora out there with Jacob.

Cora asks both of the guys if they think she really looks all that scary. Jacob and Henry simultaneously answer that, with Jacob saying no, and Henry saying yes at the same time. Cora crosses her arms over her chest and glares at Henry with mock indignation, although she doesn't mean it seriously, and Henry can tell that. then Henry admits that maybe it would be better for Cora to actually hide somewhere outside where Walt can't see her, but where she has a clear view of Jacob, and then she could just stay there while Jacob and Henry speak with Walt, unless Jacob somehow actually becomes seriously threatened, which Henry is sure to add that he very much doubts is going to happen. Cora looks at Henry skeptically and says she doesn't like the idea of Jacob even appearing to be unprotected, and she adds that's actually because of both Walt and Malachi right now. Henry promises Cora that he will not allow Walt to do anything bad to Jacob, and he says that Walt's cabin is the very last place on earth that Malachi would ever bother to look for Jacob.

after hearing this, Cora looks at Jacob for an answer. Jacob thinks about it for a moment, and then he agrees that it sounds like a good enough plan, since he thinks it's a fair enough compromise to make with Henry anyway, and Jacob asks Cora to do what Henry said for now. Cora reluctantly nods and says all right as she agrees to go along with this, if only because Jacob said that's what he wants. after that, Henry shows Jacob where his other two stakes are propped up against the wall in the corner of the kitchen where Cady left them when she was here earlier. then, a little later, when it's time to go outside and wait for Walt, Jacob takes both of the stakes with him to prop up next to him by the porch steps where he plans to sit, and he also stashes the two financial ledgers he brought with him there as well, so that they will be right there within his reach if he decides to go ahead and hand them over to Walt like Henry wants, depending on how Walt chooses to react to Jacob's presence. Cora follows Jacob outside, and after he has gotten himself situated the way he wants, Cora agrees to go hide behind a nearby tree, where she will be able to peek out to watch over Jacob, and not be too far away from him while she remains hidden from Walt as per Henry's request.

******

Jacob is sitting nonchalantly out on Walt's porch steps just like they planned when Walt gets home from work. Walt sees a black Ford pickup he doesn't recognize parked in his driveway, and when he sees Jacob Nighthorse, of all people, sitting on his porch, Walt angrily gets out of his truck and stomps over there, and he stomps up the porch steps and stops there to angrily glare down at Jacob for a moment, and Walt demands to know where Henry is. but before Jacob can answer, Walt quickly turns from him to run inside his cabin looking for Henry, and Walt calls out Henry's name while he does it, because he is actually worried that Jacob might have done something to him, because Walt still strongly suspects that Jacob and Malachi are secretly working together, and that Jacob was in on the whole thing with tying Henry down in the desert, despite what Henry has said he believes about that to the contrary. when Henry hears Walt come in, he calls back to him to say hello and let him know he's in the kitchen, and when Walt sees that Henry is just calmly making some coffee in there, Walt gets confused, and he stomps back out onto the porch to glare down at Jacob again.

Jacob continues to just sit there quietly where he has been until Walt asks him what the hell he is doing here. Jacob explains that he is here to cut out the middleman, and that Cady paid him a visit the other day, and Jacob reaches over to grab one of the stakes he took from inside Walt's cabin, and he holds it up for Walt to see while he tells him that Cady brought one of these and "showed" it to him, meaning that she beat him with it, and he is sure that Walt can see the dark bruise that's still on his forehead from her attack. Walt does see the bruise, and he tries to picture Cady beating the crap out of Nighthorse with one of those stakes, and Walt isn't quite sure if he should be proud of her, or disappointed with her for doing that, but he is leaning more towards the former. Jacob goes on to say that got him wondering who she got it from, and with that he plants the stake in the ground by his feet.

Walt asks Jacob if he knows where he got them from, admitting that he is the one who gave them to Cady. Jacob doesn't need to answer that though, because Henry comes out to do it for him, while holding the two cups of coffee that he just made, and Henry tells Walt that yes, Jacob does know, as Henry walks past Walt. then Henry hands one of the coffee cups he brought out to Jacob, who takes it from him, and then Henry goes to stand on the ground at the bottom of the porch steps near Jacob while he drinks his own cup of coffee there. then Jacob adamantly tells Walt that Malachi stole these stakes from his property, so that Malachi could frame him for what happened to Henry, and he says that's the truth, and that he wants Malachi found, then Jacob takes a sip of the coffee that Henry gave him. Walt sarcastically says now Jacob wants Malachi found, even though he says Jacob is the one who decided to let him go. Jacob says yeah, and he admits that was an error in judgment on his part, and he asks Walt if he's ever had one of those.

Walt says well, Malachi is gone now, because he says he has looked for him everywhere. Jacob looks disappointed by this, and he and Henry exchange worried glances with each other. then Jacob sighs and says maybe this will help, and he reaches down to pick up the books he brought with him, and as he prepares to hand them over, Jacob says these are the books that prove Malachi's money laundering, and he says he's handing them over to Walt so that Walt can get the FBI to help them find Malachi. Walt narrows his eyes suspiciously at Jacob, and Jacob tells him they need a bigger search party. then both Jacob and Henry look at Walt for an answer. Walt asks Jacob why he is willing to hand the books over now. Jacob says it turns out that he is more afraid of Malachi than he is of Walt, and he insists if they don't stop Malachi, then Malachi will try to kill him. then Henry chimes in to say that Malachi will kill him also, and then both Jacob and Henry look at Walt again. then Jacob says so, as he holds out the books for Walt to take from him, and he asks Walt if he will take them. Walt looks at Jacob skeptically, but he agrees to take the books from him. after Walt takes them, Jacob nods approvingly, and he sets his coffee cup down, which actually belongs to Walt, and he moves to get up off Walt's porch and collect his stakes to take home with him.

once Jacob has his stakes tucked under his arm, he motions towards the nearby tree for Cora to come on out, and when she does, Walt is surprised to see that she was hiding behind that tree right there this entire time, without Walt having any clue that she was there. Walt narrows his eyes at Cora disapprovingly while he watches her stride over to Jacob, and she glares back at Walt for a moment while she defensively positions herself on Jacob's side, so that she will be standing between him and Walt while they walk over to Cora's truck to leave together. Walt and Henry stand where they are to watch the two of them go, and after Jacob drops his wooden stakes into the bed of Cora's pickup, he climbs into the passenger seat of the cab, and Cora shoots one last warning glance over her shoulder at Walt before walking around to the other side of the truck to get in the driver's seat. then Cora quickly starts the truck to drive Jacob away from Walt, and to get him back home.

after the two of them are gone, Walt looks at Henry with a disappointed expression, and he asks Henry if he knew that Cora was standing behind that tree the whole time while Nighthorse was here. Henry nods with a slightly guilty expression and admits that he did, but he says it's kind of hard to blame Jacob for wanting to take special precautions right now, and he says that letting Jacob bring Cora with him as a contingency just in case Malachi were to somehow follow him out here was the only way that Henry says he could get Jacob to agree to come over here and turn in the books. Walt scoffs at that, and he asks Henry why they thought that she needed to stay hidden from him like that. Henry sighs and admits it's because he didn't think that Walt would react very well to seeing that not only was Jacob here, but that he had also come with some backup.

Walt just shakes is head disapprovingly, then Henry asks Walt how he knows Cora, since he noticed that Walt already knew her by name. Walt just says he's been hearing things, not wanting to admit that Malachi gave him the video of when Cora attacked the shooter at the casino a while back, and had also accused her of beating the crap out of Darius, mainly because Walt doesn't want to admit that Malachi has already been showing signs of trying to throw Nighthorse under the bus by any means possible. plus Walt also doesn't want to give up the idea that Malachi's story about Nighthorse being the mastermind behind all the casino's criminal activity is true, even though Walt does realize, at least somewhere in the back of his mind, that recent events point to a different scenario being more likely. Henry admits that he has been hearing things as well, and he warns Walt not to take Cora lightly. Walt nods and sternly says that he doesn't intend to. after that, Henry goes to collect the coffee cup that Jacob left behind on the porch, then Henry goes inside to wash both of the coffee cups and put them away, while Walt follows him inside.

******

later that night, Walt goes back into the sheriff's station to stash both of the books that Jacob gave him inside one of his desk drawers in his office. Walt actually has no intention of doing anything with them yet, since he already knows that the FBI has a leak to the Irish mob, which Walt has decided not to reveal to Henry, especially now that Henry is acting so buddy-buddy with Nighthorse, and Walt does not want the Irish mob being alerted to Walt's knowledge of their leak. so Walt assumes that it wouldn't likely do a lot of good to turn those books over to the FBI right now anyway, because of the leak, and he decides that he will just hang on to them himself for now, in case they might become useful later. plus Walt is rather perturbed by the idea of Nighthorse wanting to do anything to help him catch Malachi, because he is still convinced that Nighthorse is up to no good, and he still thinks that Nighthorse is secretly working with Malachi somehow.

Walt honestly believes this, or at least mostly honestly believes it, even if it's only because he has convinced himself of it, despite Jacob's banishment of Malachi, and despite him returning ownership of the Red Pony to Henry, and despite Jacob being obviously scared enough of Malachi to be willing to turn those books over to Walt, when Walt should know that Jacob has good reason to be afraid that Walt might try to abuse the information from the casino's financial ledger just to get back at Jacob for everything that Walt likes to imagine that Jacob has done wrong.


	40. 40

several days later, both Henry and Jacob have still not heard anything back from the FBI about Malachi, and this worries them, because they think that surely the feds would have wanted to question them both in particular if the feds were actually doing anything to investigate Malachi by now. so Jacob assumes that Walt never even bothered to turn in the books he gave him after all. when Jacob calls Henry on the phone from his house to complain about this, Henry is working at the Red Pony, and Henry suggests that they both could just go to the feds on their own, to turn in the information they have on Malachi themselves, since Henry knows that Jacob was sure to make copies of the important pages of the books before handing them over to Walt. Jacob argues that the whole point of having Walt do it for them was to get the feds to take this case seriously for once, because he says the feds have a bad habit of just ignoring everything that any Indians try to tell them.

Henry says it is not going to hurt for them to try anyway, and he says it might make more of an impression if he and Jacob were to show up independently to give separate statements about Malachi's abuse of both of their respective businesses. Jacob says that makes sense, and he agrees to go ahead and try it, even though he still does not have high hopes that the feds are going to take them very seriously anyway, but he thinks at this point, what else are they to do, and he thinks that trying Henry's idea is at least a little better than sitting on their asses and doing nothing at all. and since Henry still doesn't have his own vehicle anymore, because his truck was deliberately totaled by Malachi after Henry was abducted by him, Jacob asks if Henry is able to get a ride out to Cheyenne, where the nearest FBI office to them is located. Henry says he will make a call and see if he can, and Jacob says he will wait before leaving in case Henry can't get one for some reason. Henry thanks him for that, and he says he will call Jacob back to let him know as soon as he knows himself, and Jacob says Henry is welcome, and then they hang up.

then Henry calls the sheriff's station to ask Ruby, who is Walt's dispatcher at the sheriff's station, if there is anyone there who can give him a ride to Cheyenne. Ruby says that unfortunately they are too understaffed at the moment, because she says Vic is in the hospital after having a shootout with a psycho named Chance Gilbert, and that Walt is still at the hospital waiting for her to wake up, and also that Ferg, who is Walt's only other deputy, is out in the field working on another case right now, so Ruby says she is the only one at the station right now. Henry thanks her anyway, and he asks how Vic is doing now, since he has already heard about the shootout that she was involved in the previous night, that Vic won by shooting Chance Gilbert dead in order to protect Walt. Ruby says that Vic is doing fine, and they are just waiting for her to wake up from her surgery, which Ruby says as far as she knows went just fine. Henry says that is good, then he thanks Ruby again, and Ruby tells Henry that he is welcome, then they hang up.

******

but before Henry can try to call Jacob back, he is interrupted by a rude customer at the bar, who happens to be Travis Murphy, who was sort of a friend of the late Branch Connally, who is impatiently demanding that Henry come over and serve him a bunch of whiskey. when Henry goes to serve him, Travis reveals that he is upset about Vic, because he is obviously in love with her, and he knows that he might be the father of her child that Vic is pregnant with, because of a one-night stand that Vic agreed to have with Travis several weeks ago, and Travis is angry that he is not on the list of people who are allowed to visit Vic while she's in the hospital. Travis however does not know yet that Vic just had a miscarriage due to too much blood loss, which she sustained after being shot in the leg by Chance Gilbert right before she took him down.

during his drunken ranting, Travis also reveals to Henry that he is jealous of Walt, because Travis suspects Walt of having sex with Vic, and therefore Travis assumes there is a possibility of Walt actually being the father of Vic's child instead of him, which Travis clearly hates the idea of, because he's clearly becoming irrationally possessive of Vic. Travis even goes as far as to say that he thinks maybe he should stop giving so much, and just start taking what he wants. Henry humors Travis by pretending to both listen to him and care about what he's saying, but in the end Henry has to tell Travis that he needs to stop making everything about himself. but Travis seems to misinterpret this, because Travis says that Henry is right, and that this is all about Vic's needs, and he makes it abundantly clear that he thinks he is the only one who is fit to provide for Vic's needs.

after Henry is finally done dealing with Travis, he goes ahead and calls Jacob back to accept his offer of giving him a ride to Cheyenne, so they both can go and talk to the FBI about Malachi. Jacob says that Henry is more than welcome to come along with him and Cora, and he mentions that Cora will be driving Jacob's car for them all the way to Cheyenne and back. Henry sighs, not really looking forward to the prospect of sharing space that closely with the likes of Cora for so long, since Cheyenne is more than a few hours away from them, no matter how good of protection she might be able to provide for both him and Jacob while Henry rides with them, because frankly she kind of creeps Henry out. but Henry is not going to mention his personal feelings on that, and he gratefully accepts the ride from Jacob anyway, because he feels like this is an important thing for them to do, and Henry doesn't have any other realistic way of getting all the way to Cheyenne and back right now. Henry thinks that even if Jacob turns out to be right, and if this winds up not doing them any good after all, then at least they both can say that they tried.


	41. 41

Jacob sits in the passenger seat of his own car, which is a newer model silver Chrysler sedan, while he lets Cora drive it, because Jacob sure as hell wasn't about to leave her behind on this trip to Cheyenne, and she gladly volunteered to do all of the driving for him, and Jacob gladly accepted her offer. Jacob has Cora stop by the Red Pony to pick up Henry so they can go to the FBI office together to report Malachi, since Jacob told Cora that Henry needs a ride there also, and Cora said she is cool with that. after Cora parks in the Red Pony's parking lot to pick up Henry like Jacob asked her to, Jacob calls Henry on his cellphone to say that they are here. a couple of minutes later, Henry comes out to get into the backseat of Jacob's car, then Cora pulls back out onto the road to start driving them both to Cheyenne.

when they are about halfway there, Jacob asks Cora to stop at the next gas station so he can grab a snack and use the bathroom, so Cora does that, and after she stops at the next gas station she comes up on, she closely follows Jacob in there even though she doesn't need or want anything from it herself, because she only wants to protect Jacob. Jacob doesn't mind her doing this at all, although Henry thinks it's kind of creepy, but then Henry thinks that Cora is pretty creepy in general anyway, not that he is going to say that out loud anytime soon though, at least not while she is within earshot. and while Henry goes to grab a bottled water to buy from the gas station, he shakes his head when he sees Cora follow Jacob to stand guard just outside of the men's room while Jacob goes in there to use it.

when they get back in the car, and Cora gets them back out onto the road to continue driving them to Cheyenne, Henry tells Jacob he hopes that the two of them showing up together does not send the wrong message, because he says he does not want the FBI to think they are coordinating their stories. Jacob still insists that no matter what the two of them say, he says the FBI is just going to assume that the Indians are lying. then Jacob offers Henry some of his Red Vines candy that he bought at the gas station, but Henry turns them down, and when Jacob asks him if he's sure, because he says it's still hours to Cheyenne, Henry says that he is more of a Twizler man, even though the real reason is just because he is not feeling that hungry right now. Jacob offers them to Cora instead, and Cora takes one of them to chew on while she drives, if only because Jacob offered her the candy, and she didn't want to say no like Henry did.

then Jacob tells Henry that he owes him an apology, because he says he shouldn't have involved Henry in his dealings with Malachi, and he says Henry was punished for his mistake, but Jacob asks but what could he do with that guy, and he laughs a little, then he more seriously asks but what could he do, because he says it was either banish Malachi, or kill him. Henry says there was a third choice. Jacob asks what that was. Henry says what they are doing now, turning Malachi over to the FBI, but he says then the feds might have suspected Jacob of colluding with him. Jacob says they still might, and Henry nods to acknowledge Jacob's worry.

******

after they finally get to the FBI office in Cheyenne, Cora follows Jacob and Henry inside, in order to follow Jacob around specifically, and whenever one of the agents inside the building gets curious enough to question her about who she is, she just tells them that she is Mr. Nighthorse's bodyguard, since that is the truth, and then they just leave her alone. after waiting in the lobby for a while, Jacob and Henry are finally called in to speak with an agent decker about Malachi, and both Henry and Jacob give decker everything they have on him. decker seems a bit overly friendly to Jacob and Henry as he takes both of their statements along with the copies of the financial ledgers that they brought to submit as evidence of Malachi's crimes, and decker places all of the documents pertaining to the case into an envelope and thanks them for the information, then decker shakes both of their hands and sends them on their way after promising them that he will start looking into this right away.

******

it's pretty late in the day by the time they get back out onto the road to start going home, and by the time they are about a quarter of the way through the trip back, it's completely dark out. while Cora continues to drive the car down the highway, Jacob fiddles with the radio trying to find a station with music, but he is not having much luck, because the stretch of road they are currently on is going through a pretty desolate area of the state. Henry gets annoyed by the sound of the changing stations, and he asks Jacob if he will please just pick something. Jacob complains that there is nothing but talk radio and preachers out here. then Jacob hears a newscast about the Chance Gilbert situation, which he only bothers to listen to for a few seconds before sarcastically saying that he loves how everybody gets worked up over one dead white lunatic, but couldn't care less about organized crime on the res. Henry says the FBI spent hours interviewing them about Malachi, and he says that suggests they care a little. Jacob argues that when an FBI agent drops your statement into that envelope and then ties a string around that little figure-eight, that it's never going to get looked at again. Henry says he hopes that Jacob is wrong about that. then Jacob goes back to fiddling with the radio again, and he says he would even settle for country music right now, which he hates. Henry suggests that maybe they could just try silence.

Jacob disagrees with that idea, and he asks Cora if she happens to have any music saved on her phone, since both Jacob and Henry only use Pandora when they want to listen to music on their phones, and there is hardly any cell reception in the area they are going through right now. Cora says she does have some tracks downloaded on her SD card, but she admits that it's only stuff like Five Finger Death Punch, which she strongly doubts either of them would like. Henry rolls his eyes when Jacob asks her to put it on, because Jacob is desperate for music, and even though Henry does not know that band Cora mentioned, Henry can already imagine what kind of music it probably is based on a name like that, and he is not looking forward to listening to that kind of stuff all the way back home. but Henry is not going to complain about it either, because he is aware that this is not his car, and he feels lucky that Jacob even agreed to go on this trip in the first place.

Cora gets out her cellphone and plugs it into the car's stereo to start some music like Jacob asked her to, and she puts on her play list of the band she already mentioned, because it's honestly the least hostile of the music that she happens to have saved on her phone right now, because the rest of it is pretty much just pure death metal, and at least five finger death punch does have a few ballads here and there. after Cora starts playing it, she hands her phone over to Jacob in case he wants to change the tracks, so Jacob takes her phone and looks at the screen, which shows a picture of the cover artwork of the album that the current song is from, and he is hardly surprised to see that it's a picture of some huge skull-faced dude that's all covered in blood. but Jacob isn't going to complain, because he does actually think that this is at least a little better than country music, and much better than the prospect of silence seems to him right now, so Jacob turns up the volume of the stereo to a level that he considers tolerable, and which he is unaware is way too loud for Henry's liking.

as Henry cringes at the sound of the so-called music, he looks over Jacob's shoulder to see the screen of Cora's phone while Jacob is still holding it in his hand, and when Henry sees the same picture that Jacob was looking at, Henry just rolls his eyes and then leans back in his seat with his arms crossed over his chest, and he closes his eyes to try and meditate and ignore what he's hearing. luckily for Henry, the next track that plays is one of the ballads, and Henry is surprised to find that it's actually not half bad, so he is able to relax a little while that one is playing. the next track however, is even worse than the first one was to Henry, because the bulk of the lyrics of that one seem to be the singer just growling "burn motherfucker burn" over an over in time with some super heavy guitars and drums that really starts to grate on Henry's nerves, but Henry tolerates it while reminding himself that as bad as this is, it's still considerably better than being staked out in the desert for three days.

because Jacob has Cora's music turned up so loud, none of them hear the sound of an engine revving up behind them, and none of them notice the other car that speeds up to catch them until after it pulls out into the opposite lane and pulls up to drive right beside them. Cora sees it first in her peripheral vision, an she slaps at the car stereo's power button to shut it off so she can angrily ask Jacob who the hell is this asshole right here. Jacob looks over at the other car, which is a silver suburban SUV, and he sees the driver is wearing a black hood over his face and a red sash around his neck, and Jacob yells for Henry to look as he points at the other driver. Henry snaps to attention and looks over to see that the other driver is dressed up exactly the same way that Henry himself used to dress when he was still doing vigilante work as the new Hector, since the original Hector was killed a while back.

then Henry realizes what the other driver is about to do, and he calls Cora's name in alarm as the other car swerves right over into their lane, obviously trying to cut them off and run them off the road. Cora reacts quickly to hit the breaks so that the other car narrowly misses sideswiping them, but then she looks in the rearview mirror to see that two big trucks have just pulled up right behind her, to start tailgating her to try and block her in. Cora gets angry as she realizes this asshole is clearly trying to kill her boss, and she grips the steering wheel and lets her hands change into some kind of blackish things that look like they are made of hoses and wires and stuff, and they meld into the material of the steering wheel, and there is a loud humming and rattling noise that starts up all around them, which drowns out all of the noise from all four of the vehicle's engines that are driving close together on the road right now in a pretty tight formation. and then some weird looking pattern starts to form in the air all around Jacob's car that looks kind of like a combination of gears and whirlwinds, because Cora is trying to use her powers to create them a shield to protect them from being hit by the other vehicles, which she barely manages to do in time before the car being driven by the fake Hector swerves over to sideswipe them again, clearly intending to try and run them off the road. this time the other car does hit them, but it just bounces off Cora's shield and goes crashing and rolling off the other side of the road due to the strange force by which it was repelled away from Jacob's car by Cora's shield, while Jacob's car remains completely unscathed. after that happens, the two big trucks that were tailgating them slow down to stop chasing them, and their drivers decide to go back for their comrade to see if he survived the crash, and to try and figure out just what the hell happened there.

after the headlights of the two trucks disappear from the rearview mirrors of Jacob's car, Cora asks Jacob if she should turn around and go back after those guys, to finish them off, so she says they can't try to attack again. Jacob looks at Cora's hands with a confused and worried expression, but he thinks about what she said, and he starts to seriously consider it, and Henry leans forward in his seat to tell Jacob no. Jacob looks at Cora, who is still only waiting to hear Jacob's decision on the subject, and Jacob says that it might actually be a good idea to go get rid of those assholes for good. but Henry adamantly repeats no, and insists they have done enough damage for one night, and that he really doubts that Malachi was in any of those vehicles himself, and Henry says pleadingly that he really just wants to go home now.

Cora asks what if Malachi was in one of those trucks that were behind them though, because she says he might have wanted to ride along and witness his goons' handiwork, to make sure it got done right. Jacob tells Henry that Cora has a point there, because even though he has no idea what Cora really did, or how she did it, he saw with his own eyes the results, and he saw one of his enemies being blown away from them, when whoever that was was trying to hit them with his car and make them crash, and that makes Jacob feel pretty happy right now more than anything else he might be feeling after seeing such a strange event. Henry is not happy though, and he argues that because of whatever Cora did, their handiwork was very far from getting done right, and he says he thinks going back wouldn't be worth the risk, and while he tries not to focus on the strange way he sees that Cora's hands have changed, he turns to her to ask her if she is really willing to risk going back there now with Jacob still in the car.

Cora sees Henry's point there, and she says he is probably right about that, as she continues driving the car in the direction they need to go to get home, but she looks over at Jacob again to see if he agrees with that, and she calls his name questioningly to ask for his response. when Henry sees this, he looks at Jacob with a pleading expression and actually says please, to get him to make what Henry thinks is the right choice here. Jacob relents and asks Cora to go ahead and just take them home, and Cora nods to show she accepts Jacob's decision, then her hands start to change back to normal, and all the weird noises stop, and the weird shapes that were floating around the car outside also go away, so everything seems to go back to normal again. then they all sit pretty much in silence for the next hour or so, while Cora continues to drive them home, until Jacob decides to turn Cora's music back on. Henry rubs his face wearily and he leans back in his seat again to go back to meditating, or at least he tries to do so through the racket. then just when he's about to get irritated enough to ask Jacob to please turn that crap off, the better part of him considers the fact that he should probably be pretty grateful for whatever Cora did back there for them, since he does realize that there's a pretty good chance that both he and Jacob would not be alive right now if it weren't for Cora and her strange powers, so Henry decides to just keep his mouth shut and suck it up until he gets home.

******

by the time they make it back to the Red Pony to drop Henry off, Henry has quite the headache, but after wearily getting out of the backseat of Jacob's car on the passenger side, he stops by Jacob's window and whispers that he needs to talk to him in private for a moment. Cora overhears this, but she just looks over at Henry curiously while she waits for Jacob's answer. Jacob glances over at Cora for a moment, then he looks back at Henry and asks him why. Henry just blinks at him and looks at him expectantly. Jacob sighs and looks over at Cora again to tell her that he'll just be a few minutes, if that's ok with her. Cora asks Jacob where he is going. Jacob tells her that Henry just wants to talk to him for a minute for some reason. Cora shrugs, not really caring if Jacob and Henry want to have a private conversation without her, but she tells Jacob that she doesn't like the idea of him going out of visual range while they're still outside the sanctity of Jacob's home. Jacob promises her that he will just walk Henry up to the main entrance of the Red Pony as he points over at the door in front of them, which is not very far away from where Cora parked the car. Cora says all right, so Jacob gets out of the car to go with Henry.

Jacob follows Henry up to the door of the Red Pony, where they stop, and Henry turns to him and lowers his voice to ask Jacob how much he really knows about Cora and the sorts of things that she can do. Jacob shrugs and says in a normal tone of voice that he knows Cora cares about him on both a professional and personal level, and that he couldn't really ask for a better bodyguard, and Jacob asks Henry if he really doubts that at this point, considering how he says Cora just saved both of their lives tonight. Henry says it is the how part that kind of bothers him. Jacob looks at Henry openly and says he doesn't really care how she does it, because he says she's effective. Henry says that he would call what Cora did back there on the highway something more than effective, and he says it was more like overkill.

Jacob looks at Henry sternly and says that he is alive, thanks to Cora, and by extension, so is Henry, and Jacob adds that he feels a lot more secure about being able to keep it that way now with Cora on his side. Henry sighs tiredly and raises one of his hands to his face to rub his eyes. Jacob asks him if he's all right. Henry says he will be after he gets some rest, and he admits that he does have a pretty bad headache right now, although he says that is mostly because of the music, and Henry makes air quotes with his fingers when he says the word music. Jacob says oh, and he says if it was bothering Henry that much then he should have said something about it. Henry waves that off and says that at least one question was answered for him tonight. Jacob asks what is that. Henry maybe less than half-jokingly says that he always wondered if real life demons actually cared anything for the type of music that humans create in their honor, and he says at least now he knows the answer to that question, if nothing else. Jacob laughs a little at that, although he looks slightly more nervous than amused, and he says Cora is not a demon.

Henry shrugs and says well, whatever she is, she is pretty scary, and Henry silently wonders how Jacob sleeps at night knowing that such a creature is prowling around his house. Jacob says that's good, because he says he wants their enemies to be afraid of attacking them again. Henry admits that he supposes that is a decent point, then he tells Jacob thanks for the ride, and says goodnight. Jacob says goodnight to Henry, then as Henry unlocks the door to his bar to go inside, Jacob turns to get back in the car with Cora, and then he asks her to take him home. Cora says will do, and she pulls out of the Red Pony's parking lot to get Jacob back to his house.


	42. 42

a few days later, Jacob is surprised when one of his other security guards, one of the normal ones, who is standing duty in Jacob's front yard, calls him on his cellphone to report that Cady Longmire has arrived again, and that she's asking to see Jacob. Jacob thinks it over quickly, and he tells the guard to have Cady wait outside for him. then Jacob goes to Cora, who was standing duty in Jacob's living room while he was doing some work at his desk in there, and he tells her that Cady has come to see him again. Cora looks at Jacob with a mixture of anger and disbelief upon hearing this, and she asks him where Cady is. Jacob says in the front yard, and he says that he's going to go on out there and at least find out what it is that Cady could possibly want of him now. Cora says she doesn't think that's a good idea, but she says it's Jacob's call, and she only asks if she can go out there first to assess Cady for a minute, to make sure that Cady isn't going to try anything else stupid this time.

Jacob thinks that over, and he decides to let Cora do that for him, so he tells her to go ahead. Cora nods, and when she turns to leave, Jacob reaches out to touch her arm, to stop her for a moment, and he asks her to go easy, because he says he really doesn't want any more trouble with the sheriff right now. Cora turns to look at Jacob over her shoulder, and she tells him not to worry, because she says she can handle this. Jacob nods, and he tells Cora that he trusts her. Cora gives Jacob a little smile and nods at him in appreciation for saying that, then she goes out the front door of Jacob's house to confront Cady herself for the first time since Cady committed her beating of Jacob.

Cora strides out across Jacob's front lawn, and when the other security guards, who have gathered in the front yard to keep Cady at bay, see Cora coming their way, they immediately stand aside to give her a wide berth, since none of them feel very comfortable around her. when Cady sees Cora coming her way, Cady has a flashback to her vision in which she saw Cora change into some strange monster, and Cady remembers the awful noise that accompanied that particular part of her vision. a chill goes down Cady's spine as the flashback passes, and she can still hear a remnant of that noise ringing in her head, but she stands her ground and schools herself to appear completely calm and collected as Cora quickly approaches Cady with a furious expression that exactly matches the one that Cady saw in her vision.

Cora halts a few feet in front of Cady and just glares at her with the same furious expression for several moments as she wonders incredulously how Cady could dare to show her face here again after what this crazy backstabbing bitch did to Jacob. then Cora growls at Cady to ask her what the hell she thinks she's doing here. Cady says she came to apologize in person to Jacob for what she did, and she asks Cora if he will see her. Cora takes a step forward to Cady and asks her if she has any kind of weapons on her at all. Cady shakes her head and says no, and she promises that she isn't here to cause any more trouble. 

Cora tells Cady that she better not be lying, then Cora moves to circle around Cady in a predatory fashion while looking her over very carefully, and wondering if she should frisk Cady, but Cora decides that would be going too far, and she confidently decides that her presence alone will be enough to deter Cady from attempting another attack on Jacob. Cady stands patiently while Cora walks a circle around her, and when Cora comes back around to face Cady again, Cora looks at Cady with a disapproving expression, and she says that was a very sneaky thing Cady did the last time she was here, and that if Cady ever tries anything like that again, then Cora promises she will make her pay for it. Cady remembers her vision while suppressing a shudder, and she earnestly tells Cora that she believes her, and she reiterates that she just really only wants to talk with Jacob. 

Jacob watches this by looking out one of his front windows, although he can't hear what either Cora or Cady are saying out there while he remains inside of his house. then after he sees Cora do a circle around Cady, Jacob decides to go on out there and talk to Cady himself, feeling like he has given Cora enough time to warn Cady against trying anything funny. as Jacob walks out the front door to make his way over to where the two women are facing off, he overhears Cora telling Cady in a condescending tone that Cady isn't the kind of person who Cora says she thought she was, and Cora adds that the way Cady acted towards Jacob makes her just as bad as Asha, and Cora angrily reminds her of how Asha had attacked Cady in a similar blind rage, after throwing reason to the wind. in response to that, Cady just looks down at the ground in front of her with a shameful expression, trying hard not to start crying, and just barely managing not to as she considers Cora's harsh but true words. and Cady clearly remembers how Asha's attack on her made her feel, and she sadly wonders if that's how Jacob feels about her now. then Cady nods in acceptance that this is how Cora herself really feels, at least, then Cady looks up to focus her eyes past Cora to see that Jacob is now approaching them.

Cora turns her head to look around at Jacob as he approaches, and when he gets up to them, Cora sighs and stands aside to let Jacob stand in front of Cady, but Cora doesn't move very far away as she continues to stand near Jacob protectively. Jacob just looks at Cady with a surprised expression, and Cady thanks him for agreeing to see her, and she says that she was hoping they could talk. Jacob says sure, they can talk, but he doesn't look happy about it. Cady asks Jacob if maybe they could go inside and talk in private. Jacob disagrees with that idea by saying that he has a lot of valuable stuff in there, stuff that could break if Cady were to take him by surprise again and start swinging, so he says he thinks whatever they have to say to each other, they can say it out here. 

Cady looks at Jacob earnestly and tells him that she is just so very sorry. Jacob says that's good, and he sarcastically adds that he's glad they have got that covered. then Cady says she also wants to thank him. Jacob asks for what. Cady says for not firing her. Jacob explains that choosing not to fire Cady was not an act of kindness, and he unapologetically says that it was self-interest, because he says for better or worse, Cady is still his best option for helping his people with their legal issues, and he says that as long as Cady continues to do good in that capacity, then she will continue to enjoy his professional support, clearly indicating that he no longer has much interest in trying to develop a more personal friendship with Cady. Cady looks saddened by that, because before this happened, it had actually seemed like her and Jacob were starting to become friends, but she says ok to accept Jacob's decision on that, and she does feel genuinely grateful for not being fired, at least, regardless of Jacob's reasons for deciding against it. then Jacob asks Cady if there's anything else.

Cady takes a breath and apologetically says that she was actually also going to ask Jacob for his help. Jacob raises his eyebrows and says that is bold. Cady nods and also admits that it's more along the lines of a personal favor. Jacob says and the hits just keep on coming. Cady gets right to the point and says she knows that Jacob is testifying in her dad's civil case, and that she was hoping that maybe Jacob could show Walt some mercy. Jacob tells Cady that she knows that both professionally and personally he has had nothing but trouble with her father, and he says he's being called into court to speak the truth about that. Jacob asks Cady if she is asking him to lie on the stand. Cady shakes her head and says no, but she says this trial is no longer about a wrongful death, and she says it’s about a judge and a mayor trying to kick her dad out of office and personally ruin him so that the Connally estate can take his land and build a massive development on it. then Cady begs Jacob to help, because she says even if Jacob can't affect the outcome of this case, she says there's still a chance that he could save Walt's job, or at least his home.

Jacob looks at Cady with a thoughtful expression as he actually considers her request, even though what Cady is asking for is a pretty tall order, and one which Jacob knows very well that he has no obligation to provide. Jacob tells Cady a bit tersely that he will think about it, then he orders his other security guards to go ahead and see Cady out, and he motions for Cora to follow him back inside the house. as Jacob turns away from Cady to go back inside, Cora gladly follows him, while being glad that this confrontation is over with. Cora doesn't understand why Jacob would still be willing to give Cady the time of day, despite what Jacob said about supposedly still needing Cady to keep his legal aid clinic running, and Cora assumes that the real reason is just because Jacob is a really good man who doesn't like to hold a grudge, which she admires him for, even if she thinks he's being way too nice in this particular case.

******

when they get back inside the house, Cora follows Jacob back into the living room, while Jacob goes to his alcohol cabinet to pour himself a stiff drink. Cora stops to stand a few feet behind Jacob, and after he finishes his drink, she asks him if he's ok. Jacob turns to look at Cora and says yeah, and he thanks her for going out there to stand up for him in front of Cady. Cora says it's no problem, and after a moment of thinking, she asks him if he thinks it might be a good idea to just go rent some cabin out in the woods somewhere, to hide out from Malachi until after he is caught. Jacob considers that, and he says it might not be a bad idea, but he says he feels pretty safe now in his own home, now that Cora is here with him. Cora says she is glad he feels that way, but she says she still thinks it wouldn't hurt to be a little extra safe, especially after what happened to them on the road just a few nights ago, and she admits that she is also worried about snipers.

Jacob scoffs at that, but then his expression becomes more serious as he thinks about that some more, and he thinks back on how Barlow, as it turned out, once shot at him in his living room through one of Jacob's giant, curtain-less back windows. Jacob turns to look out there as he recalls the disturbing memory, and as he looks through the same window that Barlow's bullets had come through at him, he can easily imagine how Malachi could have another sniper hiding back there in the woods at the edge of his property, just waiting to get a clear shot. after looking out there and thinking for several moments, while Cora stands by quietly, not wanting to press the issue if Jacob's not that interested, Jacob turns to her with a thoughtful expression, and he says that he will go online and see what's available relatively nearby, because he says he doesn't want to go too far away from the casino in case he has to go in there to take care of something. Cora nods and says that should suffice, and that it just needs to be somewhere anonymous and reasonably tucked away, and she admits that it may not be a foolproof solution, but she says it adds one extra layer of protection if Jacob becomes a little bit harder for people to find, especially at night.

Jacob nods and agrees that is good thinking, and he thanks Cora for suggesting the idea. Cora just says it's no problem. then Jacob reminds Cora that he is being called to testify in Walt's civil trial the day after tomorrow, and that he would prefer to wait until after that is over with before taking her up on her suggestion. Cora doesn't look especially happy about having to wait that long to get Jacob into a safer position, but she doesn't try to argue with him about it, because she doesn't want Jacob's life to be too inconvenienced just because of stupid old Malachi, especially not when Jacob has got such important things going on. plus Cora fully expects Jacob to go all out in helping the prosecution in Walt's civil trial by giving his truthful testimony of just how badly Walt has been harassing Jacob over the years, and Cora really hopes that Walt will end up getting kicked out of his position as sheriff for that alone, if for no other reason.


	43. 43

a couple of days later, in the courtroom at Walt's civil trial, Jacob is called to take the stand by the prosecutor who is representing Barlow's estate in their case against Walt, in order for Jacob to testify against Walt as a witness to the corruption that Walt is being accused of. Cora is standing at the back of the room near the exit, behind the other spectators on Jacob's side of the room, partly in order to watch the proceedings out of her own curiosity, but mostly just to continue keeping her eye on Jacob for security reasons. everything seems to be going as expected, and after Sam Poteet, who is on the jury, and who Cora knows only vaguely as one of Jacob's friends, submits a written question for Jacob to the judge, and the judge agrees to read it aloud to Jacob, that's when things start to get weird. Cora is at first confused and then shocked by the way in which she hears Jacob choose to answer Sam's question, because much to the surprise of everyone in the courtroom except for maybe Sam, Jacob chooses to take the opportunity to turn everything around on the prosecution by accusing Barlow's estate of orchestrating the entire civil suit against Walt just as a means to force Walt to sell his land in order to pay the judgment that he will be forced to pay if he is found guilty, so that Barlow's estate can buy up his land at a bargain and then proceed to build a massive golf resort on it, all just because Barlow wanted to spite Walt.

then Jacob even offers to prove this by submitting some of his personal emails into evidence that he says Barlow sent him back when Barlow first came up with this whole plan, back when Jacob and Barlow were still working together on some things confidentially. Cora's jaw actually drops when she hears Jacob sit there in front of the gods and everyone and actually say that despite having more than his fair share of run-ins with the sheriff over the years, Jacob Nighthorse says that he ultimately believes that Walt Longmire is an honorable man, and Jacob says that he is not about to destroy a man's name and livelihood for the sake of making a profit. Walt's defense lawyer, Dave Milgrom, looks absolutely incredulous at hearing Jacob of all people say these things about his client, and Dave actually shakes his head in disbelief. then Jacob goes on to say truth be told, he's got a bit of a problem, actually, with people getting their land taken away by rich white men, clearly referring to Barlow in particular. when Jacob is done speaking, Dave excitedly stands up and tells the judge that he would like to see these emails that Jacob just offered to make public, and Dave insists that they should get those submitted into evidence, so the judge calls a recess as he agrees to have a conference with the two lawyers to see how they both want to respond to this before attempting to continue the trial.

in the end, as a direct result of Jacob's testimony that he offered so unexpectedly in Walt's defense, Dave manages to force the prosecutor to simply drop his case against Walt entirely, without even getting a settlement out of the deal, since Dave threatened to counter-sue Barlow's estate and make them pay all of Walt's legal fees once he gets Jacob's emails read out loud to the jury so that everyone in the county can find out just how corrupt Barlow actually was. the prosecutor easily sees how that could wind up destroying his client's entire business, so he readily agrees to just drop the case against Walt as long as Dave agrees not to counter-sue, and both Dave and Walt happily agree to that deal, so Walt is let completely off the hook for everything he was being accused of throughout the duration of his trial, which before Jacob's surprise testimony, was actually looking really bad for Walt.

but instead of allowing himself to feel any semblance of real gratitude towards Nighthorse for making this happen for him, Walt instead remains very suspicious of Nighthorse's intentions, and quite frankly Walt is downright perturbed by the idea that it took an act of charity on Nighthorse's part to bail Walt's own ass out of the fire, which seriously hurts Walt's pride. as a result, Walt stubbornly wants to continue seeing Nighthorse as an evil criminal anyway, just like he always has, and Walt assumes that Nighthorse must actually have some nefarious reason for what he did at Walt's trial, although for the life of him, Walt cannot figure out what that might be just yet, but he assumes that he will find out soon enough, one way or another.

as Cora drives Jacob back to his house in his car from the courthouse, Cora glances over at him with a perplexed expression, and she asks Jacob why he did what he did back there at Walt's trial, because she has no earthly idea why Jacob would want to do anything to help Walt keep his job as the sheriff after everything that she knows Walt has done wrong to Jacob. and although Cora is hardly a legal expert, she knows enough to know that all Jacob had to do was just sit there and answer the yes or no questions that the prosecutor was asking him in order to help Walt get fired without doing anything to purger himself. Cora also suspects that Jacob, oddly enough, might have even needed to go to the extent of bending the rules a bit to do what he did to save Walt, because she could tell that it seemed like Jacob and Sam might have had some sort of under-the-table agreement for Sam to submit a certain question that he knew ahead of time that Jacob wanted to be asked, so that Jacob could get his testimony against Barlow's estate accepted on the record by the judge.

Jacob just tells Cora that he did it for the reasons that he already stated while he was on the stand, not wanting to admit that the real reason is simply because Jacob felt sorry for Cady having to see her father torn down by Barlow's estate, and even after Cady's vicious attack on him, Jacob still respects her, since she did come back to him to apologize for what she did, and because Cady still wants to work for him at his legal aid clinic on the res, which Jacob is desperate to keep open, because he knows that getting justice for their legal issues is one of the biggest problems currently facing the people of his tribe. Cora decides to accept Jacob's answer on that as good enough, even though she doesn't agree that it was the smartest thing for Jacob to do, and she just hopes that his decision to save Walt's job doesn't wind up coming back to bite Jacob in the ass later on, if Walt should decide to turn against Jacob again, despite what Jacob just did to save Walt's sorry ass.


	44. 44

that night, Jacob is on his laptop, doing what he told Cora he would, by looking up rentable wilderness cabins that are currently available around Absaroka. after he finds a sort of reasonably priced one that he thinks would be suitable, he calls the number on the website to make a reservation for it as soon as possible, and he finds out that it will be available tomorrow. after Jacob makes the reservation for it, he calls Henry to tell him where he will be for a while, just in case Henry might need him for something while he's out there. Henry is a little surprised to hear that Jacob wants to go to this extent to hide out from Malachi, especially when Jacob has the likes of Cora protecting him now. but then again Henry guesses that he shouldn't be too surprised, since in all honesty they really are in a pretty significant amount of danger right now, and Henry realizes that even Cora may not be able to protect a person from everything.

Henry says that he is glad that Jacob can afford to do things like that when he feels the need to. Jacob says that Henry is welcome to stay up there with him and Cora anytime he wants, and he says there should be decent cellphone reception at the cabin he picked out, so Henry can call him anytime if he needs to, plus Jacob adds that he got one of the bigger ones with extra rooms. Henry is surprised by the offer, and he tells Jacob thanks, and that he will take it into consideration, then Henry tells Jacob that he needs to get back to work, because he has a few customers waiting for service at the bar. Jacob says ok and lets Henry go.

after Henry hangs up the phone, he thinks about the men that he's been seeing, or thinks he's been seeing, following him around for the past several days ever since the incident on the road back from Cheyenne, and Henry wonders if maybe he should seriously consider taking up Jacob's offer to let him stay out at that cabin with him, at least at night. of course, Henry realizes that staying with Jacob means staying with Cora also, and Henry actually wonders if maybe he should just ask Walt if he can stay with him at his cabin again. but Henry thinks better of that, because as much as he loves Walt as a friend, Walt can really start to get on Henry's nerves sometimes, because Walt doesn't seem to understand the concept of privacy, plus Walt's cabin is simply way too small for the both of them anyway, and Henry already knows all too well how Walt's couch is not particularly comfortable at that.

******

the next day when Jacob and Cora are getting ready to leave Jacob's house for the cabin that Jacob has rented for a week, Jacob gets a call on his cellphone from Henry. Jacob tells him hi and asks him what's up. Henry says that he has thought about Jacob's offer to let him come and stay with him for a little while at that cabin Jacob was talking about renting, and Henry says if that offer is still good, then he would not mind just spending the night there for at least the next few days or so if that is all right. Jacob says certainly, and he says that he and Cora just got done packing and were about to head out there now, and he asks Henry if he wants a ride. Henry says yes, but that he cannot leave right now because he still has to close the bar tonight, but he says after that he has got someone covering for him for the next several days. Jacob says that's fine, and that he can send Cora to pick Henry up tonight after he closes the bar, or whenever Henry wants really. Henry thinks about it and says thanks, and that he would not mind being picked up anytime after 10pm, if that is not too late. Jacob says it's no problem, and that he will let Cora know. Henry thanks him and then hangs up to get back to work.

then as Jacob goes with Cora to her truck, which they have decided to take instead of Jacob's car, since he knows that some of the roads leading up to the cabin are not the greatest, Jacob stops for a moment to tell one of the auxiliary security guards that Jacob has had guarding his house, who Jacob addresses as frank, that he won't be needing his, or any of his coworker's services any longer, except for Brian and Tony. so Jacob fires most of his extra security guards to save himself some money, except for the two that he considers the most competent, so that his house and all the valuables it contains will still have at least some minimal form of protection while Jacob and Cora are both away from it for an extended period. frank looks a little disappointed at the sudden loss of the job, but he nods and tells Jacob that he will tell the others, and that Jacob will get his last bill from them next week. Jacob nods in acceptance of this, and as he leaves the house with Cora, he sends a text to both Brian and Tony to let them know that they are to stay and guard his house while he is away for a week or so on what Jacob only refers to simply as a business trip, without giving any more details about it than that.

after they get on the road, Jacob tells Cora about his plan to have her come back tonight around 10pm to pick Henry up from the Red Pony, to bring him to the cabin also. Cora tells Jacob that she will do it, but she says she isn't thrilled about the idea of leaving Jacob all by himself for that length of time, since it's going to take almost an hour to make a one-way trip. Jacob thanks Cora for her concern, but he reminds her that the whole point of renting this cabin was to make him safer, and he agrees that it will, so he says he thinks that Cora can stand to leave him alone there for a couple of hours while she just goes to get Henry for him, because Jacob tells her that he wants Henry to be safe too. Cora nods in understanding, although she still doesn't like it, but she's not going to argue with Jacob on this, so she decides she will just have to move quickly, and she tells him that she will do it if that's what he wants. Jacob says it is, and he thanks her again while Cora continues to drive him up to the cabin, and Cora carefully watches her rearview mirrors the whole way there to make sure that no one is trying to follow them.

after Cora does a sweep of the cabin's interior, and helps Jacob get settled in there, she goes back outside to sweep the property and take note of potential angles of attack that assailants might find advantageous if they were to try and attack this place. Cora notices that it seems pretty peaceful out here, and she hopes that's a good sign that it's safe enough to leave Jacob alone here for a couple of hours while she keeps her promise to go and get Henry for him later tonight, since she had already tried to convince Jacob on the drive over here to just come along with her for the ride back to Henry's place, so that Jacob wouldn't have to be left alone, but Jacob had already declined that offer, saying that he really needed to get some work done on his computer for the casino, and that he was sure that he would be fine for a little while on his own. Cora had internally disagreed that Jacob could be so sure of that, but she hadn't wanted to aggravate him about it, so she had chosen to drop the subject for the time being. after Cora is satisfied with looking around outside, she goes back inside the cabin to quietly stand guard in there while Jacob relaxes and does some work on his laptop, until it's time for her to go pick up Henry.

as Cora prepares to leave, she asks Jacob if he is sure he feels safe enough here to be left by himself for a little while. Jacob nods and says he actually does, and he thanks Cora for being so diligent in her work, but he says he worries about Henry, and that he is glad that Henry has agreed to come and stay overnight with them here so he can be safe too. Cora nods in acceptance of this, although she wonders why Jacob is so concerned about Henry, because even though she fully realizes that Henry is in just as much danger as Jacob is right now, or maybe even more so since Henry is the one who has already been physically accosted by Malachi, she doesn't quite understand why Jacob seems to like Henry so much, considering how Henry is so buddy-buddy with the sheriff, since Cora knows by now how much Walt obviously hates Jacob's guts. but Cora decides not to press the issue by questioning Jacob on that, and then she keeps her promise to him by leaving the cabin to get in her truck and go pick up Henry from the Red Pony, in order to bring him back to the cabin and let him stay there with Jacob, and she tells Jacob that she will be right back as she turns to leave and go do that. Jacob just says ok as he watches Cora leave, then he goes back to what he was doing on his laptop while he sits on the couch in the cabin's living room.

******

it's completely dark outside while Cora drives her truck away from the cabin, and she calls Henry from the road on her cellphone, since Jacob had given her Henry's number earlier, soon after she and Jacob had arrived at the cabin, so that she could call Henry to let him know when she was on her way to pick him up. when Henry answers her phone call, Cora tells him that she is on her way to get him now, and that she will be there in about 45 minutes. Henry says ok, and he tells her that he will be ready, and Cora says ok, and they hang up. then when Cora is just a few minutes away from the Red Pony, she calls Henry again to let him know that she is less than five minutes away. Cora does this because she wants to make sure that Henry is ready to hop in her truck as soon as she arrives at his bar, because she doesn't want to waste any time in hauling her ass back to Jacob. when she pulls into the Red Pony's parking lot, she is satisfied to see that Henry is already standing outside there waiting for her with a backpack slung over his shoulder.

Cora swings her truck around so that the passenger side door of the cab is presented to Henry, and she quickly presses the button to unlock the door for him as he walks up to the black pickup, which he easily recognizes as Cora's. after Henry climbs in and shuts the door, Cora speeds out of the parking lot and drives aggressively up and down the winding roads while she takes the shortest route back to their cabin. Henry looks nervous about Cora driving so aggressively with him in the truck with her, but he doesn't say anything about it, since he can tell that she is keeping solid control of the vehicle without being too reckless, and he also easily guesses that she must be irritated by Jacob apparently having made her leave him behind on this particular trip. also, Henry is pretty grateful that Cora has decided not to play any of her music while she drives him up to Jacob's cabin.

while she is driving along the darkened mountain roads to bring Henry to the cabin, Cora takes the opportunity to tell Henry that while she doesn't have anything against him personally, she admits that she doesn't understand why Jacob worries so much about him, since she says Henry is so buddy-buddy with the sheriff who clearly hates Jacob so much. Henry looks over at Cora and raises his eyebrows at this, and he wonders how much Jacob has told Cora about his dealings with Walt, and he can clearly imagine how slanted Jacob's side of the argument would be on the subject of Walt's treatment of him. Henry admits to Cora that Walt is his best friend, and has been for a very long time, long before Henry and Jacob even started to become friends with each other, which Henry also admits is a relatively new development, although he declines to admit that he is not so sure he really considers Jacob to be his friend exactly at this point.

Cora glances over at Henry to flash him a look of suspicion as she considers that, and she declines to mention the fact that she has already used her powers to induce some visions for herself and discover some interesting things about Walt in particular, including how Henry had stopped Walt from trying to murder Jacob at the local airstrip, back when Walt was still mistakenly assuming that Jacob was the one who had killed his wife. Cora decides to keep quiet about this for now, among the other things that Walt has been involved with, that Cora now knows about, which all happened back before she had even met Jacob herself, and which Jacob himself is still largely unaware of because Cora hasn't divulged the information to him either, considering the strange way in which Cora managed to learn these things, which she doesn't want to have to try and explain.

when Henry sees Cora's skeptical expression while they are on the subject of Walt, Henry tells Cora insistently that Walt is actually a really good guy, who has done a lot of good for other people, oftentimes at great cost to himself, as Henry clearly senses Cora's dislike of Walt, and he worries about that, although, to be fair, Henry does also admit to her that Walt tends to have a bit of an unfair bias against Jacob in particular, which Henry is quick to say that he does not entirely approve of himself. Cora suspiciously asks Henry what he means by not entirely, wondering what part of Walt's bias against Jacob that Henry could find justifiable. Henry just warns Cora not to place Jacob on too high a pedestal, because he says that although Jacob may not be guilty of half the things Walt accuses him of, he says that Jacob is still far from being a perfect man, and he looks at Cora with a warning expression as he says that.

Cora glances sternly back at Henry while keeping her eyes mostly on the road, and she tells him that no one is perfect, and she adds that perhaps Henry should consider that about himself just as well the next time he goes gallivanting around with the sheriff, and she adds condescendingly while Walt rides around on his high horse. Henry tells Cora that he does his best to remind himself of that fact at least once a day, and that it is for that reason that he has been willing to work with Jacob, and to do what he can to try and help him with his problems with both Malachi and the sheriff. Henry adds that he does not enjoy the idea of Jacob getting hurt or being treated unfairly, because Henry says he knows very well what it feels like to be treated that way himself. Cora sighs as she returns her attention fully to the road, and Henry is relieved to see that she looks placated enough by his answer on this touchy subject for the time being.

******

when they get to the cabin, Cora jumps out of the truck and leaves Henry behind to fend for himself as she rushes inside to make sure that Jacob is still ok. Cora is relieved to find Jacob in exactly the same place and condition that she had left him in, while Jacob looks up at her from where he is still sitting on the couch with his laptop, and he smiles at her and says hey to greet her. then Jacob is also happy to see Henry walk in behind her, and Jacob tells him he is glad to see him, and that Henry is welcome to make himself at home here. Henry walks around Cora to start looking around the place, and as he passes by Jacob, he tells him thanks again for sending Cora to pick him up. Jacob says it's no problem as he goes back to concentrating on the business-related document he has open on his laptop, and Henry nods at him, even though Henry knows that it was somewhat of a problem, for Cora at least. as Henry goes to walk around the cabin on his own, Jacob calls after him to say that Henry can have the downstairs bedroom if he wants it, since Jacob has already chosen to sleep in one of the upstairs ones. Henry calls back to say ok as he goes to check it out, and Cora continues to stand by in the living room to go back to quietly watching over Jacob again, until Jacob decides it's time for him to go to bed.

it's a little after midnight when Jacob finally closes his laptop to shut it down and go get ready for bed. after he stands up to begin walking up to his bedroom, he looks over at Cora and tells her goodnight. Cora tells him goodnight back, as she plans to spend the night downstairs while continuing to stand guard there in case anyone should try to break in. as Jacob makes is way over to the staircase, he stops when he gets to the base of it to look over his shoulder back at Cora again, who he sees still hasn't moved from her position where she simply stands near the front door of the cabin, and he notices how she still looks plenty alert and not tired at all, despite how long he now realizes that she's been standing in the same place over there to guard him without doing anything to bother him the entire time he was working on his computer. Jacob looks at her affectionately while Cora doesn't seem to notice him staring at her, and Jacob decides to turn around and walk over to her, to give her a more proper thank you.

when Jacob walks up to her, Cora looks at him curiously while she waits for him to say what he wants, and she is surprised when Jacob holds out his arms to indicate that he wants to give her a hug. when Jacob steps closer to her to show that he is serious about this, Cora opens her arms to accept him, and while Jacob squeezes his arms around her appreciatively, Cora wonders what this is about, and she wonders worriedly if something happened here while she was gone that Jacob hasn't told her about yet. while Cora hugs Jacob back, she asks him if anything is wrong. then Jacob pushes himself far enough back that he can look at her face, and he shakes his head and says no, and that it's nothing like that, and that he just really appreciates everything that Cora has been doing for him. Cora rubs Jacob's shoulder and tells him that she doesn't feel like she has really done all that much yet, since she reminds him that Malachi is still on the loose, and that Jacob is still having to live in fear for his life while they wait for Walt or somebody to catch Malachi. Jacob takes Cora's other hand in both of his and squeezes it while he tells her that she is crazy to think that after what she did for him on the road back from Cheyenne, among other things, like just looking out for him in general pretty much 24/7. Cora shrugs and just tells him that was nothing, referring to their incident on the road, while actually meaning that.

Jacob sees she is being serious, and he is afraid to wonder what kind of things that Cora would consider more significant actions on her part. then Cora tells Jacob that she is just doing her job, which she says she doesn't mind doing, because she says she likes her job. Jacob nods approvingly and lets go of Cora as he tells her that he is glad to hear that, and he says that maybe he should give her a raise. Cora shakes her head and says no, and that's not necessary, because she says she is good. Jacob nods in acceptance of this, and he finds himself feeling glad that Cora turned down his offer of a raise, since he realizes that he could actually stand to hang on to all the money he can right now after having just thoroughly reviewed the financial situation with his businesses, which are still doing ok, but not quite as good profit-wise as he was hoping for by this point of his casino's operation. then Jacob tells Cora that he is going upstairs to get some rest now, and Cora nods approvingly at that as Jacob turns to make his way back to the stairs and go up to his bedroom to try and get some sleep, and Jacob realizes the irony of how he actually feels safer at the moment than he probably ever has in his entire life, despite everything that's going on with Malachi right now, just due to knowing that he has Cora watching his back.


	45. 45

the following morning, Henry gets up early, and after going to the bathroom to clean himself up, he goes out into the living room where he finds Cora continuing to stand guard, to ask her if she can give him a ride back to the Red Pony so he can go ahead and go to work today, because even though Henry has someone who is willing to cover for him for the next few days at his bar, Henry has decided that sitting around at this cabin all day just to hide out from Malachi doesn't appeal to him in the slightest, and he would rather go back to work at least during the day if at all possible. Cora tells Henry honestly that she has zero interest in leaving Jacob alone here again, and she says that Henry will have to wait until after Jacob wakes up to ask him if he is willing to come along with them before she will seriously consider it. Henry looks mildly disappointed by this, but he is not surprised, and he agrees to do what Cora said, so Henry goes to the kitchen to make some coffee.

a little while later, Jacob comes down the stairs fully dressed in one of his business suits that he brought with him, and he tells Cora that he just got called in to take care of some issues for the tribal council, and that he needs to go to the res to deal with them at the council's headquarters. Cora agrees to drive him there immediately, knowing how important the council is to Jacob's tribe, and she is glad to know that Jacob is one of the members of the council so that he can help make important decisions for his people. then Cora mentions that Henry also wanted a ride back to the Red Pony so that he could take care of some of his own business there as well.

Henry comes out of the kitchen holding his coffee cup when he overhears their conversation, and he tells Jacob that he wouldn't mind going into his bar for at least as long as Jacob is planning to stay on the res, and Henry says he is willing to come back here with them whenever they are ready to return, that way no one will have to make any special trips to or from Durant just for Henry's sake, at least not today. Jacob says that works for him, and Henry tells him there's coffee in the kitchen if he wants any. Jacob agrees to fix himself a cup and drink it quickly before they leave, and Jacob asks Cora if she wants any. Cora just shakes her head and says that she is good, which causes Henry to look at her wonderingly, because as far as he can tell she stayed up all night to stand guard in the living room, and yet he sees that Cora still doesn't look even remotely tired. Jacob says all right then, and he says that he is ready to leave whenever they are. Henry offers to take Jacob's empty coffee cup from him, so Jacob hands it over, then Henry goes to put both of the coffee cups in the kitchen sink, then he comes back out to say he is ready. so Cora, Jacob, and Henry pile back into the small cab of Cora's large pickup truck so that she can drive them both to where they need to go.

******

at the tribal council building, Cora stands near enough to Jacob to keep watch over him while trying to stay out of his way while he talks with the other Indian people that he needs to speak with there in order for him to do his job as a council member. while Jacob stands in the lobby of the building to patiently explain something to an Indian man named Trevor, Cora ignores the other people who can't help staring at her as they pass her by, in some cases just because of Cora's especially pale skin color, and in other cases because of the rumors that have been going around about Cora's supposedly demonic powers. then Cora is surprised to see Cady come into the building, accompanied by an Indian woman who Cora doesn't recognize. Cora moves immediately to block Cady's path when she sees that Cady is approaching Jacob, and when Cady and the other woman stop a few feet away from her, Cora asks Cady in a suspicious tone what she is doing here. Cady calmly tells Cora that she still works for Jacob, and that she has come to speak with him about a work-related issue that she says assuringly is nothing that Cora needs to be concerned about. Cora cocks her head in heightened suspicion as she continues to glare at Cady for a moment, but then she turns to go to Jacob and tell him that Cady is here to see him.

Jacob is just as surprised to see Cady here, and when Cady walks over to him with the Indian woman who has accompanied her, Jacob tells Trevor to please excuse him. after Trevor leaves, Jacob asks Cady what she's doing here. Cady smiles at Jacob and introduces Catori Long, the woman by Cady's side, saying she's a teacher at red water elementary, and that they're working together and hoping to get an audience with the tribal council. Jacob nods at Catori, and he tells Cady apologetically that he's afraid the agenda is set for today. Cady says she understands, because she already knows that normally it would take weeks for anyone to get an audience with the council, but she insists this case is time-sensitive, and that the life of a child is at stake. Jacob looks at Catori again for a moment, then he sighs and says ok, and he says that he will see what he can do. then Jacob motions for Cora to follow him as he quickly turns away from Cady to go see what he can do to grant Cady's request, and Cora goes with him obediently after flashing Cady a warning glance to silently tell her to mind her place.

Cady ignores Cora's not-so-subtle hostility towards her, and after smiling at Catori and patting her arm, Cady leaves her behind for a minute to follow Jacob in order to speak with him privately for a moment, or at least semi-privately, since Cady knows very well that she would be hard-pressed to get Cora to leave her alone with Jacob for even a minute. Cady calls Jacob's name again, to get his attention back, as she follows after him. Jacob and Cora both stop and turn around to face Cady again, and Jacob asks yeah, to find out what Cady still wants. Cady tells Jacob thank you. Jacob tells Cady he hasn't done anything yet, since she hasn't even given him the chance to speak with the other council members to see if he can get them to agree to hear Cady. 

Cady says no, and that she means for what Jacob did at her dad's trial, because she says she heard that the prosecution has agreed to go ahead and just drop the case against her dad in light of Jacob's testimony. Jacob nods stiffly and blinks while he stands there silently for a moment with a stern expression, not really wanting to try and get too friendly with Cady again, because even though Jacob still likes and respects Cady, he doesn't know that he will ever be able to completely forgive her for the way she attacked him at his own home. but then Jacob winks at Cady to acknowledge her thanks before he turns to walk away from her again. Cora narrows her eyes at Cady with a disapproving expression, especially since Cora is still none too happy about Jacob's decision to bail Walt out of his trial, but she keeps her mouth shut and goes to follow Jacob, while Cady stays behind to let Jacob do what he has to do to get the rest of the council to give her a hearing.

******

the reason why Cady wants a hearing with the tribal council is because Cady has taken on Catori as a client, who is the concerned schoolteacher of a student named Tate Dawson, who is a young Cheyenne boy who has contracted a bad case of scarlet fever, and because his parents are so extremely distrustful of western medicine, they are refusing to allow their son to get the penicillin he needs to fight off the infection. Tate's parents, Micah and Elena Dawson, have tried to explain to both Catori and Cady that their reasons for refusing to take Tate to the hospital stem from the very real abuse that both of them and their families have suffered at the hands of western doctors, which includes them being forcibly taken from their homes as children, only to be placed in numerous foster-care homes where they were subjected to conditions far worse than they would ever have experienced if they had been allowed to stay with their rightful families, in addition to some of the women in their families, including Elena herself, being forcibly sterilized after going to the hospital for a completely unrelated reason such as appendicitis.

as a result of their stubbornness though, Catori is terrified that Tate, who is one of her favorite students, is going to end up dying from the terrible sickness he has, if he doesn't get to the hospital in time. so Catori has enlisted Cady's help to try and get a tribal judge to grant Catori temporary custody of Tate so that she can take him to the hospital against his parent's wishes, in order to save Tate's life. and after Cady talked to Henry on the phone about what she could do to help Catori, Henry told her that before she can get a tribal judge involved, she needs to talk to the tribal council first, which he also reminded her that Jacob is a member of, and Henry also told her that the only way she would be able to get an audience with them inside a month's time is by asking Jacob for his help with that, since he is the only council member that Cady personally knows. so Cady agreed to come and talk to Jacob, to see if he would help, even though she kind of hated the idea of having to ask him for his help again, but Cady bit the bullet and did it anyway for the sakes of Catori and Tate.

******

Jacob did as Cady asked him to, and he was able to convince the other tribal council members to go ahead and give Cady a hearing right away, considering the fact that a Cheyenne child's life is in serious danger. so Cady is allowed to stand before the nine council members, which includes Jacob himself, and she lays out her request to them while standing at a podium with a microphone in the middle of the room, with Catori sitting quietly by her side. Cora, meanwhile, stands quietly at the back of the room against the wall behind the rest of the spectators, so that she can continue to watch over Jacob unobtrusively from the opposite side of the room while Jacob does his job here. Cady finishes her appeal by telling the council that without their help intervening on Tate's behalf, she and Catori are afraid that he might die, and then Cady thanks the council for giving her the chance to make this appeal.

one of the other council members named Hugo, who sits at the center of the council group, and has the title of governor on his nameplate, asks Cady why the child's parents aren't here, and he asks what do they have to say about this. Cady admits that Tate's parents don't support getting treatment for their son. Hugo asks Cady if they even know she is here. Cady says not to her knowledge. Jacob, who is sitting directly to Hugo's left, asks Cady if she knows for certain that the child is going to die. Cady says sorry questioningly, to get him to repeat that in a different way. Jacob then asks Cady if she is 100% certain that without treatment that this child will die. Cady says no, she is not 100% certain that he will, just like they can't be 100% certain that he won't, so she says it’s not up to anyone to decide. Jacob corrects Cady by telling her that she is deciding though, and that she is judging, and that she is siding with the values of western medicine by making a prognosis about this child's future and ripping him from his home. Cady argues that it's just temporary custody.

Jacob tells Cady so she says, but he says things don't always work like that. Jacob goes on to say that he was seven when he was taken from his home, and that the white man said it was for his health and safety, but he says his health and safety were never at risk, and he says he imagines this is a story that many of the others here can tell. several of the other council members nod in agreement with Jacob on that. Jacob explains that the wisdom of the white man has so often been detrimental to their nation, but it’s staggering how hard they've had to fight for the right to raise their own children in the way they see fit.

then Jacob looks at the other council members and says he doesn't need to hear anymore, and he asks them if they shall vote. Hugo asks for those in favor of bringing this case before a tribal judge, and no one raises their hand. then Hugo asks for all those opposed, and all nine of the council members, including Jacob, raise their hands. Cady looks very worried by this verdict, which has turned out to be the exact opposite of what she and Catori were hoping for, and Cady swallows hard as she realizes that there is now no legal way for them to get Tate the penicillin he needs to help him fight off his scarlet fever, which Cady honestly feels he is very likely to die from now as a result. Cora is also surprised by the verdict, and by what Jacob said about his own childhood, but she respects Jacob's decision, along with that of the rest of the council, to let Tate's parents decide what kind of medical treatment their child should receive, and Cora feels bad for all of the Indians who have been abused so badly by the white man, especially now that she knows that even Jacob himself is one of the people who has been made to suffer that way just because of his race.

******

on the drive over from the res to stop by the Red Pony and pick up Henry, in order to take both him and Jacob back to their cabin for the night, Cora stays quiet while she drives the truck, and she decides not to bring up the subject of what happened back there at the tribal council hearing with Cady and Catori, because Cora doesn't feel like it's her place to talk about it. but after sitting in silence for a while, Jacob wonders why Cora is being so quiet after everything that just happened, and he speaks up to ask her if she thinks that what he did back there was the right thing, because he cares about Cora herself as well as her opinion on the subject.

Cora looks over at him with a surprised expression, and after thinking about it for a moment, she tells Jacob honestly that she feels that the boy's parents are being irrational about refusing him something as simple as penicillin, but she is quick to add that she understands their reasons for being that way, and that she also understands Jacob's reasons for wanting to give the boy's parents the power to control their son's medical treatment, given the kind of abuse that Cora acknowledges Jacob's people have suffered at the hands of western doctors, so Cora says she respects the council's decision on the subject, and she also says she hopes that Cady will be able to do the same. Jacob nods in agreement, and he thanks Cora for being understanding about the issue, which he acknowledges is a tricky issue, but he tells Cora that it's imperative that they set an example here to let the white man know that he can't continue to snatch Indian kids from their homes anymore, at least not without a serious fight. Cora looks sad about that, but she nods in agreement as she continues to focus on the road.

then Jacob realizes that the way he worded that might have made Cora feel bad, because Cora is white, and he is afraid that he might have offended her, which is the very last thing that Jacob wants to do right now, especially considering how much he has come to rely on Cora for his very survival at this point. Jacob seriously apologizes to Cora and says that he didn't mean to make her feel bad because of her skin color. Cora just says that she understands, and Jacob goes on to tell Cora that he knows she is special, and not like other white people, because of how much she has already done to help him personally, even though he's an Indian.

Cora tells Jacob that she likes him a lot, whether or not he's an Indian, but she says that she does get that his people have been mistreated a lot by others who happen to share her skin color, and she says she isn't offended by Jacob and other Indians using the term "white man" in a disparaging way, because she says she feels like the white man, in that context, has earned that level of scorn. Jacob nods and looks relieved, and he secretly feels very happy to hear Cora say that she likes him a lot, and he thanks Cora for being understanding of his position. Cora smiles at Jacob fondly and says it's no problem as she continues to drive.


	46. 46

the next morning, at the cabin, Jacob says that he needs to go to the casino to attend a meeting with a couple of his investors. Cora nods and agrees to drive him there, and she asks Henry if he wants a ride back to the Red Pony again, since they are going to be headed back that way. Henry says yes please, glad for the opportunity to be driven back to his bar again without having to ask anyone to go out of their way to give him a ride there. so they all get back in the truck again, and after dropping Henry off at his bar again real quick, Cora drives Jacob to his casino on the res so he can take care of his business there.

******

meanwhile, Catori has decided not to respect the ruling of the tribal council on the situation with Tate, in her desperation to keep Tate alive, and she takes it upon herself to kidnap Tate from his home while both of his parents are at work, in order to try and get him the penicillin he needs to fight off his scarlet fever on her own. except Catori decides not to do it on her own, and she calls Cady to see if she can get her to help. when Catori calls Cady from her car, which she is driving around with Tate laying down in her backseat, Cady is in her office on the res with Mathias, who has come there looking for Tate, since the news of Catori abducting the Dawson boy has already spread across the res, and now Tate's parents are both furious and terrified for their son's safety, and they want to press charges against Catori for kidnapping their son. Mathias came to Cady's office just to make sure that she wasn't trying to hide Catori and Tate there, and Cady tells Mathias to look around there all he wants, since they aren't there. however, Cady talks to Catori on the phone while pretending like Catori is some other client of hers so Mathias won't get suspicious, because Cady is not ready to turn Catori over to the tribal police yet, even though Cady knows how illegal it is for Catori to kidnap Tate and try to get him medicine that his parents don't approve of.

after Mathias is done looking around, and Cady has ended her call with Catori after secretly warning her not to come to her office because Mathias is there, Mathias asks Cady who that was on the phone, and Cady just tells him it was a friend without saying anything else about it. Mathias warns Cady that she needs to call him immediately if she has any contact with either Catori or Tate, and Cady lies and agrees to do that to get Mathias off her back. Mathias looks at Cady suspiciously, but he leaves her alone for now, since he has no evidence that Cady is doing anything to help Catori with Tate's abduction yet. after Mathias leaves, Cady calls Catori back to set up a meeting with her at some desolate place on the res where they won't likely be seen together. when they meet, Catori manages to convince Cady to help her get Tate to a doctor, and Catori promises to take full responsibility for the kidnapping after they have done what they have to in order to save Tate's life. Cady reluctantly agrees to help Catori pull this off, even though she knows it means violating the law on her part as well, by aiding and abetting a kidnapper.

after finding out than an angry mob of Indian people from the res are blocking the entrance of the hospital in Durant to try and intercept Catori and get Tate back to his parents before Catori can violate the tribal council's ruling, Cady and Catori, along with Zach, who Cady gets to help them find a place to take Tate where he can get penicillin, eventually manage to find a mobile clinic that is not being blockaded by protesters, and the three of them agree to let the doctor there give Tate some penicillin. after that, Cady, Catori, and Zach take Tate back to his parents, and Cady hands Tate's father, Micah, the bottle of penicillin they got from the doctor, and Cady begs him to continue giving Tate the medicine so he can be cured of his scarlet fever. Mathias is there to take Catori into police custody, and Catori goes to him willingly to turn herself in like she promised to do.

however, even though Cady doesn't suffer any legal consequences for helping Catori kidnap Tate and violate the tribal council's ruling by giving him penicillin against his parent's wishes, Cady does suffer professionally for it, because after that, she not only loses all of her customers at her legal aid clinic on the res, but her office there is also vandalized in retaliation, and none of the Cheyenne trust Cady anymore to help them with their legal issues.

Cady is very upset by this, and Mandy explains to her that the reason why this is happening is because her people trusted Cady after she killed a white man, but then Mandy says that Cady acted like one when she agreed to help abduct an Indian boy from his parents. Mandy goes on to say that even though she knows Cady is strong, she says she doesn't know if even Cady is strong enough to get through this, and Mandy says she has to quit working for Cady now in order to save face with her people, because she says she has to live with them while Cady doesn't, because she says Cady can leave the res anytime she wants to, unlike her. after Mandy leaves Cady's office in tears, because she actually really liked working for Cady, Cady sulks in her office while Zach and Henry both come over to help her clean up the damage from the vandalism, and although things are not looking very good for the legal aid clinic now, Cady is not quite ready to give up on it just yet.


	47. 47

while Jacob is taking care of his business at his casino, Vic is excited to find a box truck that she knows is from the Irish mob, due to the company that owns the truck being a known shell company of theirs, as Walt and his deputies have already recently discovered. Vic calls Walt to come out and inspect the truck's cargo where it has been pulled over on the highway. when Walt goes out there, he is not too surprised to find 20 kilos of heroin stashed under the false bottoms of a bunch of wooden crates in the back of the truck, along with Jacob Nighthorse's name printed on all of the shipping labels as the recipient of the crates. as soon as Walt sees this, he automatically assumes that this is proof that the heroin belongs to Jacob, even though it's really Malachi Strand's, and Walt also assumes that this is proof that Jacob and Malachi really are working together, rather than being enemies with each other, ever since Jacob banished Malachi from the Cheyenne tribe and kicked him off the res. and despite the fact that Jacob just went out of his way to bail Walt out of his civil trial, Walt doesn't care to think about the possibility that Malachi would put Jacob's name on his heroin to frame Jacob for it, even though Malachi already has a proven history of framing Jacob for his own crimes by this point.

as a result of this discovery, Walt goes to the res to see Jacob at his casino office, while Jacob is still there, in order to arrest him for the heroin. Cora is standing by in the office with Jacob to watch over him, since she's been serving as his bodyguard at his request, and with Malachi still on the loose, Jacob has ordered Cora to stay pretty much right by his side everywhere he goes for now, to provide him with personal protection, because Jacob honestly fears for his life now, especially considering what Malachi did to Henry. Jacob is expecting Walt's arrival, because Walt called ahead to Jacob's receptionist at the casino to say that he was on his way over to see Jacob, to make sure that Jacob would be there when he arrived, although Walt didn't say why he was coming.

so Jacob agreed to wait for Walt in his office after he had finished having the meeting with his investors that he came back to the casino from his rented cabin to attend. and since Walt shows no sign of hostility at first, Cora doesn't react when Jacob lets Walt in, except to just look at Walt with a neutral expression. Walt is disappointed to see that Cora is here, but he doesn't let on about it, and he chooses to ignore her for the time being, hoping that she won't prove to be too much of a problem considering what he already suspects about her, and what he is planning to do here. Jacob greets Walt amiably and offers him a comfortable chair to sit down on, while Jacob goes to sit down on the couch across from it. after Walt sits down, Jacob then asks him why he came, and after Walt puts on a little show pretending like he is only here to thank Jacob for the unexpectedly favorable testimony that Jacob volunteered at Walt's civil trial, which Walt openly admits is what saved his own job and reputation when they had him dead to rights, Walt then proceeds to rather ungratefully accuse Jacob of only doing that in order to get him to look the other way when Jacob commits crimes, and Walt tells Jacob about the mob truck that he found full of heroin, which he is absolutely convinced is Jacob's.

as soon as Jacob realizes what he is hearing, he angrily slaps the surface of the coffee table in front of him and stands up to accuse Walt of being a broken record, because Jacob once again feels like he really can't win with Walt no matter what, and Jacob moves away from Walt to go over to Cora for protection, while Walt also stands up and starts reciting a by-the-book Miranda warning to Jacob to clearly indicate his intention to arrest him. Cora makes an angry hissing sound at Walt and shakes her head as she looks at him with a disgusted expression, and she quickly steps forward to put herself squarely between Walt and Jacob. as Jacob stands back behind Cora, he looks at Walt warily and tries to remind him that this casino is on sovereign territory, where he insists that Walt has no jurisdiction, but Walt just ignores him and robotically continues giving the Miranda warning.

then Jacob rolls his eyes and orders Cora to go ahead and kick Walt the hell off of his property. Cora moves immediately to do what she was told, and she takes a step toward Walt and sternly tells him that he better leave right now, or she says she will be more than happy to personally drag him out and throw him out on his ass herself. Walt ignores her and just continues to stand there giving Jacob his Miranda warning, and Walt moves his head to look past Cora so he can eyeball Jacob while he does it. Cora nods and says alright then, and she goes to Walt to grab him by the arm, and she yanks him forcefully to push him towards the door of the office. Walt feels Cora's superior strength and knows he's no match for it, so he doesn't try to resist for the time being, knowing that he has a lot of backup waiting for him just outside the room, since he anticipated that something like this might happen when he came to arrest Jacob.

when Cora throws open the door of the office to haul Walt out, both she and Jacob are surprised to see Mathias standing there, along with two other tribal police officers and both of Walt's deputies, who are all clustered together just outside the office to block the way out. Cora angrily tosses Walt out the door into the group of other cops who are standing there, and Walt nearly runs into Mathias, who barely manages to step aside in time to avoid being knocked over by Walt. when Walt catches his balance, he whirls around to face Cora, while Cora continues to stand at the doorway to block their access to Jacob. Walt looks to Mathias to deal with her, since this is the res, and is therefore technically Mathias's jurisdiction.

Mathias nods at Walt, and then he tells Cora that Jacob is under arrest, and he orders her to stand aside, unless she wants to be arrested along with him. Cora stays where she is, and she looks defiantly at both Mathias and Walt as she adjusts her stance to a more aggressive one to indicate that she is ready to fight, and then everyone starts to hear a low humming sound that seems to be coming from everywhere at once. Ferg, who is Walt's only other deputy at this time besides Vic, looks especially nervous as Mathias draws his pistol and warningly holds it at the ready position, and as Mathias cocks his head threateningly at Cora, his fellow tribal police officers draw their own pistols, and then both Vic and Ferg follow suit as well, so that all five of them are standing there with their guns drawn. Walt decides to keep his own pistol holstered for now though, as he seriously hopes for a peaceful outcome to this confrontation.

the humming noise that Jacob knows Cora is causing gets louder and more rattly sounding as the standoff continues to intensify, and Jacob debates with himself about what he should do in this situation, and he quickly weighs his options, trying to figure out if he should actually let Cora help him resist arrest by letting her assault the police, or if he should just surrender himself and go along with the arrest until he can figure something else out. Walt asks Cora if she is really willing to help Jacob resist arrest, and he warns her that they will call in the feds if they have to for assistance in extracting Jacob from this casino, and he asks Cora if she thinks she can take on the entire FBI. but Cora doesn't answer him, and she also doesn't move.

Jacob shakes his head in exasperation, and he reluctantly decides to give himself up for now, because he knows if he doesn't, then his casino will quickly be turned into a warzone. Jacob steps forward while holding his hands up, and he orders Cora to stand down, and he tells the cops that he will go with them willingly if they put their guns away. Cora is not happy about this, and she hesitates to do as Jacob said. Jacob asks Cora again to please stand down, because he insists they can't risk the casino being destroyed in some huge firefight with the police. after hearing him on this, because she understands the importance of the casino to Jacob's people, Cora reluctantly gives in with a frustrated sigh, and the steady racket that was going on suddenly stops as she stiffly turns to Jacob and takes a step aside to let him pass, and she looks at him with a dejected expression. Jacob pats Cora on the arm to show his appreciation for her efforts as he walks past her, and as the cops put their guns away, Jacob goes out to let Walt grab him and take him into custody.

******

when Walt drives Jacob to the sheriff's station, Cora follows them there in her own truck. after all three of them, plus both of Walt's deputies, get out of their vehicles to stand on the street just outside the station, Walt tells Cora to stay out while he's escorting Jacob inside, but she doesn't listen, and she follows them in anyway. Walt ignores her for the moment, while Vic and Ferg both exchange worried glances as they are confused about what they should do, but they just follow the others inside as Walt takes Jacob to the jail cell inside the station, and then Walt pushes Jacob inside the cell to lock him up in there. Ruby is sitting at her desk when they all come in, and as soon as she sees Cora, Ruby looks at her with a concerned expression, because even though she doesn't know anything about Cora yet, Ruby instantly gets a bad feeling about her.

Cora ignores Ruby and the two deputies entirely as she just stands by to watch patiently for the time being as Jacob tries to explain to Walt, from inside the jail cell, how he has been framed again by Malachi, but Walt doesn't want to listen. Jacob asks Walt to think about why, if he wanted to get away with trafficking drugs, then why would he help Walt keep his job, when he says it would have been in his best interest in that case to just get Walt fired when he clearly had the chance. Walt is not impressed by this logic though, and he tells Jacob not to get too comfortable in that cell, because he says he is going to have Jacob transferred to the Tri-County jail pretty soon, and Walt claims the excuse that they don't have the proper facilities here to hold a drug trafficker. Jacob flashes a scared look at both Cora and Walt upon hearing this, and he tells Walt that he can't do that, because he says the Tri-County jail is like Malachi's personal fiefdom, and Jacob adamantly insists that if he goes in there, then he will be dead within 24 hours. Walt angrily tells Jacob to stop pretending like he and Malachi are enemies, because Walt says he knows they are really working together, right along with Darius Burns and Eddie Harp. Jacob yells that is not true, and that it's not even close to being true, and he looks incredulous at the idea that Walt could actually still believe that after everything.

Cora then interrupts to angrily ask Walt if he is actually insane, and she steps closer to him and points her finger at him scornfully while telling him to pull his head out and start thinking about what's really going on, because she says that Malachi has already tried framing Jacob for his crimes before, because that's what Malachi does, and she mockingly tells Walt that she thought he was supposed to be at least halfway smart. Walt turns to look at Cora with an indignant expression, and he carefully argues that if this was really a setup, then they would have worked harder to make sure Jacob got caught, by calling in a tip, or he says the driver would have made sure he got pulled over for speeding, but Walt says there was none of that, because he says his deputy found that truck on her own, and that the drugs were carefully concealed in a shipment of antiquities, inside a load of crates that were all clearly stamped with Jacob's name.

Cora plants her hands on her hips and impatiently glares at Walt while she asks him why he doesn't think about the possibility that Malachi never intended for those drugs to be intercepted, because he actually wanted them, and she suggests that Malachi only stamped Jacob's name on them as a contingency in case they were intercepted, so that Jacob would be framed for it then, because she says that's Malachi's MO.. Walt scoffs at that idea, and he tells Cora that's a likely story, while he shakes is head in disbelief. then Cora reminds Walt that Malachi did this before when he stole Jacob's stakes and used them to bind Henry in the desert, and she argues that Malachi never intended for Henry to be found out there either, but she says he used Jacob's stakes for the job anyway, just in case that might happen, and she insists that Malachi is doing the exact same thing again with this stupid heroin shipment. Walt doesn't answer for a moment, as he continues to look sternly at Cora, because he doesn't want to admit that she might have a point there, as he quietly thinks that over. Cora goes on to mockingly accuse Walt of being stupid enough to believe that Jacob would go out of his way to rescue him from his civil suit just on the hope and prayer that Walt might feel obligated to turn a complete 180 on his nature, and just go ahead and jump right into Jacob's pocket, when all Jacob really had to do to get rid of Walt for good was just stand by and let him get fired, which she says Jacob probably should have done anyway, to make sure that Walt could never bother him again.

when Walt still refuses to answer her, because he is still thinking, Cora decides to kick the pressure up a notch, and she furiously asks Walt what the hell is wrong with him, and she steps forward to get in Walt's face as she accuses him of actually turning into the same corrupt sheriff that Detective Fales accused him of being, and she says if he thinks she is going to stand by and let him murder Jacob by throwing him to Malachi's thugs like some worthless piece of meat, then she says he has got another thing coming, because she promises to make Walt pay dearly if that happens. with that, the rattling drone that was heard back in Jacob's casino office starts up again, only it's louder this time, and it increases in volume until it starts vibrating the walls all around them. then Cora sneers and points her finger in Walt's face, and in a seething tone she warns him that she could level this place. Walt stares at Cora, refusing to flinch, and he schools himself to appear as though the strange noise that Cora is somehow creating doesn't phase him in the slightest, even though it actually does creep him out quite a bit, and that's not the only thing about Cora that's creeping Walt out right now. Walt is also taken aback that Cora could somehow know what Fales said to him that night in Walt's private office when no one else was there, when Fales told Walt the story about the corrupt sheriff that he grew up with who abused his authority on a regular basis, and Fales had indeed compared Walt to that sheriff as an excuse for why Fales was cutting corners during his investigation into the murder of Miller Beck.

Vic and Ferg both become alarmed by Cora's aggression, and they both draw their pistols and hold them at the ready again, as they both look at Walt for a signal on what he wants them to do. Cora sees this, and she hisses at the two deputies to get their attention, and when they look at her with wide eyes, she points her finger in their direction and tells them not to even think about it, and then she points directly at Vic's pistol and says threateningly that she will melt those. when Vic and Ferg don't move, Cora cocks her head warningly to let them know she means it, as she actually prepares to use her powers to do what she just said she would, since it's nothing she hasn't done before. Walt gets the sense that Cora means business, and he quickly motions for his deputies to put their guns away, as he is honestly afraid of finding out what might happen if they don't do it. when Ferg sees this, he lets out the breath he was holding and quickly holsters his revolver, feeling grateful for being allowed to avoid getting into a gunfight with whatever this Cora person is. Vic is more reluctant to holster her pistol though, and Walt has to motion for her again to put it away before she finally gives in and does it with a tense expression.

at this point, Ruby, who was continuing to sit quietly at her desk through all of this, gets a terrified look on her face, and she quietly gets up from her desk to walk briskly to the bathroom, to shut herself inside there until this is all over. Walt watches Ruby go with a worried expression on his face, and he feels bad for bringing this kind of trouble to her, but he also feels like there is nothing else he can do for her at the moment except continue to stand and face Cora, and keep her attention at least until he can figure out what else to do. Cora notices Ruby's movement out of the corner of her eye, and she glances over quickly at Ruby, just to see what she's doing, but when she sees that Ruby is just getting up to leave, Cora returns her gaze to Walt without otherwise reacting to Ruby. Ruby is a Christian woman, and she has now become convinced that Cora is some kind of demon in the biblical sense, and although the prospect of being faced with something like that scares Ruby more than anything, she doesn't want to outright abandon Walt by running out of the station altogether. Ruby refuses to be that much of a coward, but she does, however, feel that it's best for her to just get out of the way for now, while Walt figures out how to deal with the situation at hand, because the last thing Ruby wants is to become a distraction to Walt in the middle of such a dire situation if he should start to worry about her safety. when she gets into the bathroom, Ruby is glad to find that the vibrations that Cora is somehow causing to emanate from the walls in the area around the jail cell are not quite so bad in the bathroom, at least for the time being, so Ruby gets down on her knees in there, and she starts praying.

after Ruby leaves, Walt returns his attention to Cora, and he angrily asks Cora how the hell she knows about what detective Fales said to him. Cora cocks her head aggressively and says she knows a lot of things, like how Walt tried to murder Jacob on that airstrip back when Walt was still convinced that Jacob was the one who killed his wife, and she goes on to explain how Henry only barely managed to stop Walt in time by physically assaulting him, to try and get his gun away from him, and when that didn't work, then Henry had to resort to blackmailing Walt into ceasing his attack by threatening to incriminate himself as Walt's accomplice in Jacob's murder, so that Henry would also get sent back to prison, after Walt promised to never let that happen again after what already happened to Henry the last time he was sent to the Tri-County jail, where he was of course beaten half-senseless on a regular basis by Malachi's thugs.

while Cora is saying all this stuff, Walt instinctively takes a step or two back away from Cora upon hearing her words, and his mind races, and he wonders frantically how the hell she could know all of this. the humming noise inundating the room starts to take on a more menacing tone as Cora senses that she has the upper hand on Walt now, and she intends to continue pressing that advantage as much as she needs to, to get Walt to break down and do what she thinks is right. Cora steps forward to close the distance that Walt created between them, and she goes on to say that she even knows about how Walt committed insurance fraud to help a farming family get the money from a life insurance policy that wasn't supposed to pay out, because the guy killed himself, but he had his buddy from the insurance company come over to shoot him in the back after he was dead from sleeping pills, to make it look like a murder, and she says Walt figured it all out and even got the insurance guy to confess to the whole thing, but Walt decided to just leave that case open as an unsolved murder, so that the wife and daughter could still get the money. then Cora crosses her arms over her chest, and she glares at Walt with a defiant expression, and she dares him to deny any of this, because she says she could go on and on. and when Walt still doesn't answer her, because he is currently dumbfounded by her level of knowledge, Cora asks him how much more he wants her to say about his own illegal activities before he is willing to see reason.

Walt looks over at Jacob to see how he's reacting to all of this, and Walt sees that Jacob is just standing quietly in the cell with a rather stunned expression, as if he had no idea that any of this was coming. then Walt looks back at Cora, wondering exactly how many of his deepest secrets she happens to know all about somehow, and he also wonders how much of that information she could realistically manage to use against him if she set her mind to it. of course, Walt has never been the greatest expert on the law, despite proclaiming himself as the law, and after everything he just went through in his civil trial, Walt seriously worries about having to go through anything like that again. Walt then asks Cora in an accusing tone if she is threatening to blackmail him somehow. Cora asks Walt if he really thinks that telling the truth about someone's crimes should count as blackmail. Walt says it does, if the threat of exposing the information is being used to get the other person to do something they don't want to.

Cora looks at Walt with a thoughtful expression, and she asks him if he means information like, for example, when a certain sheriff regularly resorts to using both psychological and physical torture to force confessions out of his suspects without a lawyer present, like the time when that sheriff threw a bloody piece of meat at a guy and threatened to release a man-eating bear on him, or the time when he tied a guy's feet to a horse and made his favorite deputy assist him in using that horse to drag the guy across his front porch, and then threatened to fire off a gun to scare the horse into running off and dragging the guy to his death if he didn't say exactly what the sheriff wanted to hear.

while Cora is explaining the part about how the sheriff got his deputy to help him with technically torturing a confession out of his suspect with the aid of a horse, Cora glares directly at Vic to let her know that she knows Vic is the one who was there with Walt that day, and Cora is pleased to notice that Walt seems to notice her do this, and that Walt looks pretty worried by it himself. when Cora looks at her, Vic shakes her head in disbelief that Cora could know anything about that time when she helped Walt interrogate that foreman at Beltro Corporate Farms, whose name was Cal Weston, and who had murdered a co-worker of his, and Vic remembered everything happening in pretty much exactly the same way that Cora had just described it when Vic and Walt had gone to bring Weston in that day, if Vic was being honest with herself, and Vic looks at Walt with a very concerned expression.

then Cora repeats her question to Walt by asking him in a sarcastic tone if that's the kind of information he is thinking about, that could possibly be used to blackmail someone, and Cora gives Vic another glance and a smug little nod to emphasize her point that she isn't above dragging Vic into this, just to put more pressure on Walt, if that's what's needed for Cora to do what she thinks she has to do to save Jacob.

after hearing this particular revelation, Jacob scoffs to get Walt's attention, and when Walt looks over at him, Jacob looks back at him with contempt, and he shakes his head scoldingly at Walt. while he does that, Jacob thinks about what a giant hypocrite Walt is after all, and he really starts to regret having gone through the trouble of saving Walt from his civil suit. then Cora tells Walt that she bets there are some reporters out there who would be pretty interested to hear the kind of stories she could tell, like how Walt didn't actually kill Miller Beck, but he sure as hell tried to, and even though he failed because he underestimated Beck and his buddies, and almost got himself killed in the process, Cora says that's still another count of attempted murder that Walt has against him, and which he never had to face justice for either, not according to the letter of the law.

Walt angrily tells Cora to just stop, and he asks her what it is that she wants exactly. Cora says all she wants is for Walt to do his damn job, and to do it right for once, and to stop throwing Jacob under the bus for every god-damned thing he can think of under the sun, just because Walt personally hates Jacob no matter what he does or doesn't do, because she says she's sick of it, and she says she isn't going to stand for it any longer. Walt asks Cora if she's threatening him, and Cora tells him he can take it however he wants. then Cora goes on to say that Walt only started this vendetta against Jacob because of his dead wife's moral panic over the casino, and now that Martha's gone, Cora says that Walt just can't resist carrying on that torch for her, no matter how wrong she might have been. Cora sees Walt ball up his fist in response to her mention of his dead wife, and Walt angrily tells Cora to keep Martha out of this as he points his finger warningly at Cora. Cora decides to keep pushing Walt's buttons on that topic though, and she tells him that she bets Martha had an entire basket-full of research, on not only the casino itself, but also on Jacob himself personally, and Cora says she bet Martha tried to nitpick every facet of Jacob's life apart while trying to dig up dirt on him, and she also bets that's how Walt originally got brainwashed into thinking that Jacob is a criminal.

Walt glares at Cora furiously as his face actually turns red in anger, and he grits his teeth as he tells her slowly in a seething tone, that is enough. Cora is not impressed though, and she gets back up into Walt's face to ask him if he's going to punch her, just like she says he tried to do to Jacob that time when Jacob tried to tell Walt the exact same thing, except that time Walt accidentally punched his stupid deputy in the face instead, and after flashing a mocking glare at Vic again, Cora laughs at the thought while she smiles at Walt with a strange mixture of pity and hatred. Walt looks away from Cora then has he recalls that particular folly of his, wondering again how Cora knows about that, although he guesses that Jacob could have told her that much, but Walt can scarcely imagine how she or anyone else could possibly know so many of the other things that Cora just revealed knowing about. then Cora tells Walt that if things have to get ugly here, one way or another, then she says that's going to be on Walt.

Walt throws his hands up in frustration, and he asks Cora how she expects him to just ignore this massive heroin shipment like it never even happened. Cora tells Walt that she doesn't want him to ignore it, because she says she wants Malachi busted for it, along with all the other bullshit he's been up to, and she says that someone's name being printed on a damn shipping label is nowhere near enough evidence to charge someone with trafficking, and she tells Walt that it would behoove him to stop wasting his time harassing an innocent man, so that Walt can spend that time going after the real criminal instead, which she says is obviously Malachi, and she angrily tells Walt that he needs to pull his head out of his ass if he really can't see that by now.

Walt looks perturbed by all of this as he stays quiet for a few moments longer to weigh his options, while Cora patiently waits for him to finally give her a real response. then Walt grits his teeth as he looks away from Cora to look down at the floor for a moment, then Walt looks over at Jacob again, who is only continuing to remain quiet and very still while he stands in the jail cell looking on at them with a concerned expression. Walt is still not sure how much the threat of Cora's uncanny knowledge about him could actually wind up being a problem for him in the long run, but he decides it's better not to take the risk with her right now, at least not until he manages to find out more about what's really going on.

then Walt decides that he has no real choice under the odd circumstances but to just go ahead and let Jacob go for now while he looks for more evidence to tie someone to the heroin. and this decision of Walt's is not just because he is afraid of Cora using her strange powers to physically hurt him or the people he cares about, although Walt would be lying if he said that wasn't a factor, but there's also the fact that besides Cora's extensive knowledge of Walt's own secret activities, Cora's actual arguments have started to sink in a little too, and the rational part of Walt's mind is finding it harder to ignore the basic logic of much of what Cora has said, and Walt is afraid to admit to himself that Cora might be succeeding in making him feel just a little bit stupid right now. but the longer he has to stand here and continue to face Cora, the harder it's getting for Walt to ignore that sinking feeling, on top of everything else she is doing, and threatening to do to continue breaking him down.

without another word, Walt shakes his head in exasperation at Cora, then he reluctantly stomps over to the jail cell and jams his key into the latch to unlock it, and Walt violently throws open the cell door, causing it to slam and bang loudly against the front bars of the cell and bounce back on Jacob, who puts his hands up to block it from hitting him directly, while he hastily exits the cell with an alarmed expression. then all the weird noises that Cora was somehow causing in the room suddenly cease altogether, and she steps toward Jacob and reaches out for his arm to take it and pull him to her protectively, to move him well out of reaching distance of Walt. then without another word, Cora shoots Walt a final warning glance over her shoulder as she turns with Jacob to haul him with her out of the sheriff's station.

now that Jacob is free, all Cora really wants is just to get him the hell out of there as quickly as possible, to get him in her truck that she left parked just outside the station, and to take him straight back to their wilderness cabin where Cora can only hope that Jacob will remain safe from all of his enemies, including Walt, at least until all this bullshit is finally over with. Jacob doesn't try to resist or struggle at all against the rescue, even though he's being a little manhandled by Cora at the moment, while she drags him down the stairs to make it outside. Cora isn't being all that rough with him though, and Jacob understands why she's doing it, and he's feeling pretty grateful for it right now anyway, considering how precariously his life was hanging in the balance just a few moments ago. Jacob fully realizes just how screwed he would be, if he had been left to Walt's mercy, without having someone on his side with the power to stand up to Walt, and Jacob silently thanks the spirits for having sent Cora to him.

******

after Cora and Jacob have exited the station together, Walt goes immediately to the bathroom to check on Ruby, leaving Vic and Ferg to mumble to each other about what the hell just happened. Walt opens the door of the bathroom to find Ruby still kneeling there on the floor with her eyes closed, and with her hands still in the praying position, while she continues to quietly recite the 23rd psalm. Walt carefully kneels down beside her, and he places a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. when he does that, Ruby stops praying, and she looks up at Walt with tears welling in her eyes. Walt rubs her shoulder and tells her it's going to be ok, and he says they are gone now, so it's going to be alright. as Ruby looks up at him skeptically, Walt stands up and then holds out his hand for Ruby to take, so that he can help her get up off the floor. Ruby takes Walt's hand and accepts his offer to help her stand up, but as soon as she is on her feet again, she really starts to cry, and she places her hands over her face as she sobs uncontrollably. Walt takes Ruby into his arms to give her a hug, and he shushes her soothingly and tells her again that everything is going to be all right. Ruby pushes herself away from Walt to look up at him sternly, and in a panicky voice she asks him how that can possibly be true when Jacob Nighthorse has a demonic entity on his side, and Ruby's chin quivers in fear of that thought. Walt scoffs at that idea, since he doesn't really believe that Cora is a demon, at least not in the biblical sense, although he doesn't know how to explain her powers. Walt promises Ruby that he will figure out some way to resolve this, and he says that she just needs to have some faith in him.

Ruby sighs heavily as she starts to calm down some, and she tells Walt that she does have faith in him, but she strongly recommends that he should talk to a minister and get some holy water or something, in case he has to face Nighthorse's demon friend again. Walt nods obligingly, and he lies a little to tell Ruby that he will consider it, even though he has no real intention of doing that, because Walt has never been much of a Christian himself, especially not after everything he's seen and experienced in his time, in regards to the Native Americans' version of spirituality instead. but Walt doesn't want to hurt Ruby's feelings, or cause her any more distress than she's already experiencing at the moment, and he still feels pretty guilty about being at least partially responsible for bringing this kind of trouble to her. Ruby nods at Walt, deciding not to press him any more on the issue for now, and since she has stopped crying, she grabs some tissue from the bathroom to dry the rest of her tears.

after she's done with that, Walt smiles at her and asks her if she's ready to leave the bathroom now. Ruby smiles back and blushes a little as she nods quickly and says she definitely is. then after Ruby follows Walt out of the bathroom, she goes straight back to her desk to get back to work. after she sits down though, Ruby does make sure to get her bible out of her desk drawer, to place it on top of her desk right beside her and leave it there, to try and help herself feel at least a little bit safer if nothing else. Walt sees this as he continues to watch Ruby from where he's standing by the entrance to his office, and he shakes his head worriedly, wondering how many more ways he can manage to accidentally put his loved ones at risk, and more importantly, what he might be able to do to prevent himself from doing the same thing again in the future.

******

on the way back out to their cabin, while Cora drives the truck, Jacob looks over at Cora from the passenger seat, and he asks her if all that stuff she said back there was really true, and he asks if Walt tried to kill him like she said, and if Walt really committed insurance fraud and even tortured people, and he looks at Cora wonderingly for answers. as Cora keeps her eyes on the road, she simply tells Jacob yes, to answer all of those questions. Jacob blinks slowly for a moment, then he tentatively asks Cora if she will tell him how she knows all that. Cora glances over at him briefly, and she just says that she has her ways. Jacob continues staring at her thoughtfully, and when Cora glances over at him again to see that he doesn't look quite satisfied, Cora quietly admits that she may have a few visions from time to time. Jacob raises his eyebrows at that, and after a moment, he nods in acceptance of that answer, even though he's plenty curious to know more. but Jacob doesn't want to seem ungrateful for the miracle that Cora just pulled off, to save his life, by using sensitive information that she has somehow gained on Walt, which she apparently should not know, to more or less blackmail Walt into letting him go, when Walt obviously preferred the idea of throwing him straight into the general population of Tri-County like shark bait. Jacob is actually quite saddened to realize that is exactly what Walt really wanted to do too, without having any real regard for Jacob's life whatsoever, and he wonders for the millionth time what he ever really did to make Walt hate him so much. Jacob tells Cora that he can't help wondering how many other tricks she might have up her sleeve. Cora looks over to smile at him sweetly, and she says she is full of surprises.


	48. 48

the next day, Jacob goes to visit Cady at the legal aid clinic, and as he stands inside the office looking around, he asks Cady where is everybody, even though he already knows all about what happened with Catori and Tate. Cora is there too, of course, but she stays outside the office to stand by her truck and guard the building from a distance while Jacob and Cady talk in private, because Jacob asked her to, and Cora agreed to it only after Jacob assured her that he is no longer worried about Cady trying to attack him anymore. inside the office, Cady admits to Jacob that the community's enthusiasm for her has dropped off. Jacob says that aiding and abetting a kidnapping will do that. Cady asks Jacob if he is here to fire her. Jacob says no, and that he still believes in what she's doing here, despite all their troubles.

then Jacob turns to Cady with an apologetic expression, and he says that he's afraid he's going to have to reduce her funding though. Cady looks surprised by this, and Jacob says he knows he committed $750,000 to get this operation up and running, but… and after trailing off there, Jacob then asks Cady how much she has spent so far. Cady says she doesn't know, but she says maybe $200,000. Jacob says oh, as he thinks about that for a second, then he tells Cady that she is going to have to manage the remainder of the year on only $100,000 more, and he goes to sit down on the edge of a nearby desk as Cady continues to stand in the room. Cady tells Jacob that she doesn't know if she can do that, even if she doesn't pay herself a salary. Jacob says well, he doesn't know what to tell her, and that he knows it sounds harsh, but there it is, and he does not look happy about it himself. Cady sits down at her own desk in the room with a disappointed expression, and she nods, then she asks Jacob if this is because of her and what she did, or if this is because her dad arrested him. Jacob adamantly tells Cady neither, and he admits it's himself, and that his financial forecasting was overly optimistic, as it turns out.

then Cora comes into the office looking for Jacob, and as soon as she sees him, she worriedly tells him that there's some guy in a truck parked outside, and she says she doesn't know if he followed them here or what, but she says he's been watching them this entire time. Jacob asks what kind of truck it is as he gets up to look outside. Cora points to it and says it's that chevy avalanche over there, and Jacob narrows his eyes as he sees the truck she is talking about, and he tries to make out the driver's face, but he doesn't have any luck with that since it looks like the driver may be trying to hide his face from them at this point.

Cady however, recognizes the make and model of the vehicle as Zach's, but she doesn't volunteer that information. Cora tells Jacob that they really should go now, just to be on the safe side, unless he wants her to go over there and confront the guy, which she says she will gladly do if that's what Jacob wants. Jacob looks worried as he thinks that over, and he tells Cora to just stay with him for now, and he grabs Cora by her arm to indicate that he doesn't want her leaving his side right now, because he feels genuinely afraid that the guy in that truck could be working for Malachi, and Jacob is reluctant to leave Cady here by herself if that should turn out to be the case. while Cora stands by Jacob and lets him hold on to her arm, she quietly tells him that she could, you know, handle the guy remotely, just to scare him off if Jacob wants that, hinting that she could use her powers on the guy from this distance without explicitly stating that in front of Cady.

while Jacob thinks that over, Cady gets the sense that Cora might be able to do something to hurt Zach, and she finally speaks up to admit that she knows the guy in that truck, and she asks Cora to please not hurt him. Cora glares at Cady angrily and steps forward to place herself between Cady and Jacob, and she accusingly asks Cady how she knows that guy, and why she didn't speak up about it earlier. Cady hastily admits that the guy in the avalanche is her friend Zach, who she explains is a former deputy of her dad's, and who her dad hired to watch over her, although Cady lies about the reason why, and she says it's because Jacob took Cora away from the legal aid clinic and didn't leave her with a replacement security guard, even though the real reason is because Walt is afraid of the Irish mob coming after his loved ones, since Walt has been stirring up trouble with their leader, Shane Muldoon, and Cady knows very well that Walt would never trust Cora to protect her from anyone, just because of Cora's obvious loyalty to Jacob.

Cora points her finger warningly at Cady and tells her that she had better not be lying, as something about that story does not sit right with her. Jacob tugs on Cora's arm to get her to back off of Cady a bit, and he speaks up to say that he believes Cady, and he quietly tells Cora it's alright, to calm her down, and he says that they should just go now. Cora reluctantly says fine as she peers predatorily out one of the front windows of the office to glare at the avalanche again. Jacob sighs, and before walking out, he looks at Cady once more, and he tells her that he's sorry. then Jacob turns to go outside and leave with Cora, while Cora tries her best to stay positioned defensively between Jacob and the avalanche while they walk over to get inside of her own truck. Cady looks outside the window right behind her desk to watch Jacob leave, and she sees Cora eyeballing her from where she continues to stand by her truck until after Jacob gets into the passenger seat, then Cora moves around to get into the driver's seat of her truck and drive Jacob away from there.


	49. 49

later on, Jacob has convinced Henry to come and visit with him and Cora at the casino, because Jacob wants to try and convince Henry to become his business partner, so that Jacob can have someone else who he trusts with experience as a fellow business owner to help look after the casino, just in case anything were to happen to Jacob himself. Henry reluctantly agrees to hear Jacob out, and as Jacob argues his points about how the casino helps their tribe by giving them a stable source of good income and other benefits, he gives Henry a tour of the casino, while Cora follows them quietly for their protection, since Malachi is still at large.

eventually Jacob leads Henry and Cora outside to stand by the casino's main entrance as Jacob continues to explain to Henry the importance of preserving what he has built here for the sake of their people's future, even if something happens to him, and he's not able to keep running it by himself anymore for some reason. Henry remains skeptical, as he has always previously sided with the Longmires on the subject of the casino, but he wants to be fair to Jacob and at least give him a chance to tell his side of the story for once.

as they continue to stand just outside the casino and talk, they're suddenly interrupted by the sound of a few rounds of gunfire being shot off somewhere close by. Henry and Jacob both duck down instinctively in response, while Cora rushes over to bend and crouch over Jacob to try and cover him until they can figure out what to do next. a few seconds later, one of the SUVs belonging to the casino's security staff pulls up to the curb right across from them in order to offer Jacob and company a ride out of there. all three of them rush over to the vehicle, while Cora continues to do her best to physically shield Jacob on the way there, and after she gets Jacob inside the backseat of the vehicle with Henry, she asks Jacob if he wants her to go with him, or if he wants her to stay behind to look for the shooter, since she says it could very well be Malachi.

Cora has been practically foaming at the mouth to go and hunt down Malachi herself, since no one else is having any luck with that. and at this point Cora doesn't see a real problem with letting the casino's security guards take Jacob home for her while she at least does a quick search for this shooter, since it's becoming more imperative for them by the day that Malachi is found, and Cora feels pretty sure that whoever fired off the gun here is probably at least working for Malachi. so Cora sees this incident as a rare opportunity for her to get someone that she could interrogate for Malachi's location, if she should manage to catch whoever it is before they escape.

as Jacob thinks it over quickly, the driver of their vehicle, who Jacob knows as Brian, turns around to tell Jacob that he is sure the gunshots came from some shrubbery not too far off from the left side of the casino's main entrance, and Brian points to the location he's referring to. Jacob recognizes Brian, along with Tony, who is sitting in the front passenger seat next to Brian, as the private security guards he hired to protect him personally at his house, and Jacob wonders what they are doing here at the casino. but Jacob doesn't think too much about it as he is more focused on his immediate survival at the moment, after having just been shot at outside his own business, and Jacob has no reason to suspect either Brian or Tony of any wrongdoing at the moment.

Cora snaps her head around to glare off in the direction that Brian had indicated to, hoping to catch any sight of someone who could be their shooter, and her expression turns to an obviously predatory one as she has to hold herself back from rushing over there to start looking for clues immediately. Jacob sees this clearly enough, and he realizes that Cora is hard-pressed to keep maintaining such a passive role in her defense strategy, and that she is more than ready to go on the offensive at this point. and although Jacob doesn't like the idea of going anywhere without Cora right now, upon seeing her intense expression, he decides to let her have her way by telling her to go ahead and stay here for a while to see what she can find out, and Jacob says that he will call her on her cellphone as soon as he makes it home. Cora nods and she shuts the door of the SUV for Jacob, to let the driver speed off with him and Henry.

******

after a while of being driven away from the casino by the security guards, Henry suddenly notices that they are not going in the right direction to get to Jacob's house, so Henry calls out the driver on this by addressing Jacob to alert him of this fact. Jacob calls to Brian to ask where they are going. Brian doesn't answer, and as they come up on a bridge overlooking a river, Tony, the security guard who's sitting in the front passenger seat, starts to look nervous, and he asks Brian what he's doing. Brian still doesn't answer, but in response he stops their vehicle on the bridge, pulls out his pistol, and then shoots Tony right in the head to kill him instantly. as it turns out, Brian is not really a security guard, and he is actually an Irish mobster who is working with Malachi, and who has only been pretending to be one of Jacob's security guards so that he could act as a spy for Malachi, as well as carry out an attack on Malachi's orders when the time was right. and now that Brian has successfully kidnapped both Jacob and Henry, he intends to deliver them to Malachi's new base, which is located in an old sawmill in the southeast corner of the Crow res.

Malachi had thought about coming out to meet them himself on the bridge, where he and Brian had planned for Brian to execute any security guards who remained with them in the vehicle at that point, so that Malachi could then personally transport Jacob and Henry the rest of the way back to his new base. but after hearing some of the things that Brian had told him about Cora, Malachi thought better of it, and he decided to just let Brian do all the grunt work to make sure that Jacob, at least, was delivered to him at the soonest opportunity. and the fact that Brian managed to get Henry at the same time makes Malachi even happier when Brian texts him the news. after restraining both Jacob and Henry at gunpoint, he confiscates their cellphones and destroys them by stomping on them and brushing their debris off the side of the bridge with his foot. then Brian drags Tony's body out of the vehicle and dumps it over the side of the bridge as well, where it lands down on the bank next to the river with a meaty thud. then the mobster proceeds to drive Jacob and Henry to the sawmill on the Crow res to meet Malachi, who is waiting anxiously for them there.

once they get there, Malachi has Darius, Lane Potter, and another one of his goons beat up both Henry and Jacob, except Malachi tells them to leave Jacob's pretty little face alone, because he says he needs that to stay intact for now, since he has a little job that he needs Jacob to do for him. the reason turns out to be that Malachi is planning to force Jacob to make a false confession video in which Jacob will claim all of Malachi's crimes as his own, and will also say that he wants to hand over complete control of his casino to Malachi. then Malachi plans to murder Jacob by making it look like a suicide, and that Jacob killed himself out of shame by hanging himself there at the sawmill. after Malachi decides that Jacob has been punched in the abdomen enough times for now, he hands Jacob a copy of the script that he wants him to memorize for the video, and he shows Jacob that he even has a teleprompter set up behind the camera to help Jacob remember his lines while he's being recorded. Jacob calls Malachi a chicken-shit son of a bitch, and warns him to just wait until his bodyguard finds out where he's been taken, because then he says that Malachi and all his guys are going to be in a world of hurt.

Malachi laughs and asks Jacob in a condescending tone if he means that demonic white bitch that he says Jacob has been keeping around as some kind of perverted pet. Jacob laughs back, shaking his head, and he says he would like to hear Malachi say that to her face when she gets here. Malachi explains that he isn't so worried about Cora finding this place, because for all her special talents, finding places doesn't seem to be on the list of things she can do especially well, or else he says he is sure that she would have found him and his guys here a long time ago, since Malachi and his gang have been hiding out here for several months by this time. Henry speaks up then to explain that Cora did not find this place before, because she was not looking for it, because conducting the search would have meant leaving Jacob unattended, and now that Jacob is missing, she is going to have plenty of incentive to focus everything she's got on tracking this place down, because he admits that Cora has strong personal feelings for Jacob.

Malachi looks at Jacob for confirmation of that, and Jacob looks back at him and nods affirmatively to acknowledge the truth of Henry's words, and Jacob says that Cora finding them here like this, or even worse, dead, is going to make her very angry, and Jacob adamantly says that no one wants to see Cora when she gets like that, not even him and Henry, because he says it can get pretty damn bad. when Henry sees some of Malachi's men flash nervous expressions at one another upon hearing this, Henry goes on to remind them of what happened to their Hector when he tried to attack him and Jacob on the road, and Henry says that Cora is the White Demon, referring to the legend that he knows has already been spread around the Cheyenne res on that subject, and Henry gives them a mournful expression as he warns them that Cora is filled with a whole lot of very dark medicine that none of them want anything to do with. then Malachi angrily shouts that he's heard enough, and he tells everyone to shut up, and he says the sooner they get this done the better then, as he intends to continue going on with his plan despite the strong warning he was just given by his captives.

******

Brian O'Keane, the Irish mobster who had just kidnapped Jacob and Henry for Malachi, has stayed at the sawmill in order to help Malachi finish the last part of his plan, which is to force Jacob to sign all of the paperwork that's needed to legally transfer ownership and full control of the casino over to Malachi. in addition to being a hitman for the mob, Brian also happens to be a notary public, and he stole all of Jacob's personal documents from his safe, since he watched Jacob enter his combination last week and memorized it the last time Jacob needed to get into it. when Brian had gotten the text from Jacob saying that he was leaving the house for a while, Brian had taken the opportunity to break into Jacob's safe to steal all of his documents, and Brian was relieved to find that Jacob had left them behind in the safe, since Jacob was thinking that they would be more secure there than anywhere else, and had decided not to take them with him to wherever he was running off to.

Brian had insisted to Malachi that they go through with this, because Brian didn't trust that Jacob's confession video would be enough to ensure that Malachi would be allowed to take full control of the casino by the authorities after Jacob's death, and Brian is very interested in making sure that the Irish mob can continue to operate out of the casino going forward. and since Jacob was opposed to that idea, Brian is more than happy to help Malachi dispose of him, since Malachi is totally on board with the Irish mob working out of the casino to their heart's content, and they still need an Indian to run it, since the casino is on an Indian reservation.

Brian even went to the extent of hiring a corrupt lawyer to draft up all the extra paperwork they needed to ensure that the transfer of all the casino's property and assets would be legally binding, and after getting Malachi to agree to going through with this stage of the plan, Brian decided to personally stay at the sawmill to make sure Jacob signed everything he needed to sign before Malachi finally killed him. and although Brian is far from being superstitious, he did spend enough time around Cora while pretending to be one of Jacob's security guards to get the sense that something is pretty off about her, although he'd ignored all the stories that the other guards had been passing around about her supposedly being some kind of demon with actual powers that she could use to kill people in pretty gruesome ways. but now upon seeing how nervous the other men are looking at the mention of Cora and her reputation as a demonic entity of some sort, Brian ignores Malachi's order to shut up, and he quietly asks Malachi if this is going to be a problem.

Malachi looks at him with a condescending expression and tells Brian not him too, and Malachi asks him if he really believes any of those crazy stories. Brian says normally he wouldn't, but he tells Malachi that if he knows anything he doesn't, then now is the time to speak up. Malachi shrugs and admits to Brian that Cora has a way with slot machines, but Malachi lies and says that's the worst thing she can do, deciding to leave out the part when she beat Darius to within an inch of his life, and Malachi glances over at Darius to flash him a warning look to keep quiet about that, which Darius gladly does, since he's not too keen on admitting what Cora did to him anyway. Brian asks Malachi what he means about slot machines, but Malachi just waves him off and says they don't have time to worry about it right now, and that maybe he will tell Brian about it some other time when this is all over. Brian decides to drop the subject for now, although he is beginning to wonder what he has really gotten himself into here.

then one of Malachi's other guys, the one named Lane Potter, who tends to be one of the more superstitious members of the gang, speaks up fearfully to ask Malachi if this White Demon is the same one that's rumored to have killed at least six guys on the Cheyenne res already, one batch of rapists, and one batch of drug dealers who kidnapped a girl a while back. Malachi rolls his eyes and tells Lane to shut his mouth and don't speak again until he's spoken to. Lane looks scared of Malachi, but he goes on to say that if the White Demon is really coming for them, then he wants no part in hurting its master, if that's really what Jacob is. Lane looks around him to see that several of the other men are sharing concerned expressions at his words, and Lane is emboldened to make a run for it, hoping that enough of the other men will follow him and provide him with some safety in numbers as he chooses to defy Malachi out of his greater fear of the White Demon.

unfortunately for Lane, no one else actually follows him when he turns to move, and as Lane tries to run out of the building anyway, Malachi quickly draws his pistol and shoots Lane in the back of the head, killing him instantly before he can escape. after that, Malachi asks if there's anyone else who has any issues they would like to discuss. no one answers, so Malachi proceeds to force Jacob to start making the video by having one of his goons hold a gun to Henry's head and threaten to kill him if Jacob doesn't do what Malachi wants. although Jacob realizes there's absolutely no chance that Malachi is going to let either of them walk out of here, regardless of whatever they agree to do, Jacob cares enough about Henry to not want to see him killed, and Jacob knows if he agrees to go ahead and make the video, that will give them at least a little more time to be rescued, before they are ultimately disposed of once Malachi has no more use for them, if indeed a rescue is coming.


	50. 50

as Jacob sits in the chair that's been placed for him in front of the camera, and he reads Malachi's script off the teleprompter, Jacob is so disgusted by the words he's being forced to say that a few tears actually well up in his eyes, even though Jacob is the kind of man who would be hard pressed to let himself cry about anything, even if he wanted to. as Jacob nears the end of the script, he is immensely relieved to hear the familiar humming and rattling noise that he has come to easily recognize as the vibrations of his bodyguard's strong medicine, so Jacob stops reading the script and goes quiet, except to whisper briefly to himself, saying oh, there she is. when Malachi notices the sound, although he doesn't really know what it means, he gets the sense it can't be good, but he asks Jacob why he stopped giving his speech anyway, because Malachi is disappointed that Jacob stopped when he was almost to the end.

Jacob is mindful of the man who is still holding a gun to Henry's head, and he asks Malachi if he isn't afraid that noise is going to mess up the audio on the recording. as the noise continues to steadily increase in volume, Malachi asks what the hell is that, and he orders Darius to go outside and see what's out there. Darius moves to do what he was told, but he is stopped by a group of whirlwinds that appear inside the building they are in, to block his way to the large bay door he was going to go out of. Jacob turns around to look at the new development along with everyone else, then he turns back to look at Malachi, and Jacob says with mock sympathy that he tried to tell him. Malachi points his pistol threateningly at Jacob and asks him what the hell is this, and Jacob looks at Henry to see that he looks pretty scared by whatever he's staring at, which has formed just a few yards behind where Jacob continues to sit in the chair in front of the camera. Malachi orders Jacob to call it off, or he will shoot him, then Malachi calls out to warn the entity itself that if he's going down, then he's taking this little half-breed with him, referring to Jacob.

suddenly, everyone's guns are ripped out of the hands of whoever is holding one, and they all fly up to crash into the ceiling and form a pile that oddly sticks there, and then, with a horrible screeching sound, the pile is somehow dragged across the ceiling until it reaches the large bay door several yards behind Jacob, at which point the mass of guns suddenly explodes into a fireball that seems to entirely disintegrate them, along with most of the two giant wooden doors that were there. at that point, all the men except for Jacob and Henry, start to panic, including Malachi, although Malachi handles it by pulling out a knife and running over to Jacob to yank him out of the chair, and Malachi forcibly turns Jacob around to hold the knife against his neck, and Malachi yells out to the demon, to warn it that he will slit Jacob's throat if it tries anymore funny business.

but it's no use, as the handle of the knife Malachi is holding suddenly becomes very hot, hot enough to quickly sear and blacken the skin of Malachi's palm, which causes him to start screaming, and the handle of the knife starts to melt in Malachi's hand. Jacob takes the opportunity of the distraction to elbow Malachi in the stomach and get himself free of Malachi's grasp, and Jacob narrowly avoids getting cut by the knife's blade in the process as Malachi continues to hold on to the handle of it involuntarily at that point. as soon as Jacob is clear, the knife in Malachi's hand, which he is unable to let go of, disintegrates entirely in a pile of strange, burnt-smelling dust, and Malachi screams in agony as most of his hand is taken off in the process. the humming noise that's been going on suddenly changes almost entirely into an even louder rattling, and Jacob looks behind him to see that the whirlwinds seem to be trying to form together to create some kind of machine-like object just inside the building by the bay door. but the image is so confusing that Jacob is forced to look away from it, as it starts to give him a headache. then Jacob looks over at Henry, who he sees is somehow continuing to stare at that thing anyway, while Henry squints his eyes and his brain tries to process the image of the alien object. by this point, all of Malachi's men have ran to the back of the building to scrunch up there, because there is no back exit for them to escape from.

the next thing that happens is that all of the whirlwinds, and whatever object they were apparently forming, suddenly dissipate into a cloud of grayish particles that begin to coalesce into a humanoid shape, which eventually turns out to be that of Cora, and she materializes still wearing the same attire in which she was previously seen. after she's fully formed, and the whirlwinds disappear, she twitches and shakes herself awkwardly while her motor control is restored to her, but not all at once, and she takes a few stiff and jarring steps forward before her gait starts to smooth out somewhat. as Cora approaches, Jacob sees her bright hazel eyes are fixated on Malachi, and Jacob steps aside to get out of her way when she gets within several feet of him. Malachi is still standing where he was, not knowing what else to do with himself at this point besides grip the wrist of his mutilated hand as tightly as he can, out of instinct, and to maybe try and stop some of the bleeding.

when Cora gets close to him, she starts making some kind of low grating sound, and when she reaches out her hands to Malachi, her hands transform into large, claw-like apparatuses with fingers that look like they are made of enlarged motorcycle chains intertwined by black wires and hoses, and the fingers quickly wrap themselves tightly around Malachi to squeeze his entire body, threatening to crush him to death. Malachi screams and groans in agony, and Henry snaps out of his daze and yells no, but he does not dare to get too close, or touch any part of Cora to try and stop her. instead Henry calls to Jacob to do something, and Jacob just shrugs with an incredulous expression like he doesn't understand what Henry means. Henry tells Jacob to stop Cora from killing Malachi. Jacob asks him why would he do that. Henry tells Jacob to think about how this will look to the authorities, who are going to find out that the two of them were brought here, and Henry says they will be blamed for this murder. Jacob says he seriously doubts that, and he says that Malachi needs to die. Cora takes that as her queue, and she finishes squeezing Malachi until his eyes pop out, and blood comes pouring out of his mouth, and he also bleeds out of his other end while he shits himself at the same time. as Cora opens her claws to drop Malachi's mutilated corpse onto the ground right where he previously stood, Jacob and Henry both wince at the sight of the carnage, and Cora turns her head to look over at Jacob, wanting to ask him if he's ok, but since she hasn't regained the ability to speak clearly yet, she decides to hold off on that for now.

then Jacob points over to the group of thugs who are still huddled against the back wall, and who are now cowering in terror by what they just saw happen to their leader, an Jacob asks what about them. Cora turns her head to peer over at them, and after she takes a few stiff steps to move herself awkwardly in their direction, Henry cries for her to stop again, saying she can't just kill everybody. as Cora ignores him, Henry looks at Jacob with a pleading expression, not wanting any more of the people here to be killed in the same way that Malachi just was, and he begs Jacob to call Cora off, so he says they can just go ahead and get the hell out of here already. Jacob nods and he calls out Cora's name and asks her if she will come to him. Cora doesn't look at him either though, because she is currently too fixated on two of the men in particular at the back of the building, and she points two of her claw-like things in their direction, and she says in a grating voice that's barely distinguishable, not those two, meaning she doesn't want them to leave. Cora doesn't know if they can tell that she is pointing at Darius and Brian, but she doesn't really care, and she continues walking towards the group of men.

when Cora gets close enough to touch the men with her claws, she points again at Darius and says "you" to him, to indicate he is one of the guys she wants, and then she does the same to Brian while saying "you too". the other men around Darius an Brian quickly scatter off to the sides to get away from those two, as Cora opens her claws to grab both Darius and Brian simultaneously, in much the same way as she had grabbed Malachi. Darius and Brian both try to run away after they have recovered enough from their shock to try and get moving, but it's too late, and Cora proceeds to snag both men's bodies in her claws and squeeze the life out of them in the same brutal fashion as she had dispatched Malachi. once she's done with that, she lets go of the limp and bloody corpses, and then she turns to look back and forth at the remaining men, deciding whether any more of them are worth her effort to destroy.

that's when Jacob finally comes over to Cora himself, holding up both of his hands in a placating gesture as he approaches her with caution, and he says, whoa, over and over until Cora finally fixes her gaze upon him, and a bunch of the noise she's been making seems to instantly die down. Henry breathes a sigh of relief at that, and as things quiet down some, Cora addresses the remaining gang members in an inhuman voice by telling them they can leave, but if any one of them should ever do anything to harm her people again, she will hunt them down and make them pay, and she asks them if they understand that. the remaining gang members all nod and say yes, and when Cora simply waves one of her changed hands at them, as if they are flies she is trying to shoo away, they take that as their queue to run the hell out of there as fast as their legs can carry them, although that is easier said than done when they are tripping over themselves and each other in their panicky haste to retreat.

their sudden movement catches Cora's attention though, and as she rethinks the wisdom of letting any of these men go, there is a series of grating roars as Cora's half-human body jerks its way around Jacob and she moves in a jarring manner to follow the other men, as if changing her mind about letting them go. Jacob and Henry look at each other with wide eyes, and Henry gives Jacob an expression that implores Jacob to do something to stop Cora. Jacob throws his hands up in the air to ask what is he to do, but after seeing Henry's unforgiving expression as a response, Jacob shakes his head and runs after Cora. when Jacob gets close enough, he reaches out to touch Cora's back with his hand, to see if that will do anything to help, even though he is actually pretty scared of touching any part of her right now.

when Cora feels him, she stops walking and she turns her head to look around over her shoulder at Jacob, while one of her claws remains outstretched towards the fleeing men for several moments. once the other men are out of sight and out of earshot, Cora lowers her arm and concentrates on trying to return fully to her normal form. Jacob takes a big step back from her when he sees her start to change again, and it takes a few minutes for the claw-like things to go away and turn back into her normal hands again, and once that process is complete, all the strange noises in the room stop and everything seems to go back to normal again, at least besides the three oddly disfigured corpses that are laying on the ground nearby, which remain there as proof of Cora's bizarre handiwork.

Cora is then finally able to ask Jacob in her normal voice if he is ok, so she goes ahead and does that. Jacob says in a soft voice that he will be now, thanks to her, and that so will Henry, and Jacob gives Henry a nod to try and include him in the conversation. Henry just stands there quietly though, for a moment or two, with his arms crossed, looking perturbed and trying not to glance at the corpses of Malachi, Darius, and Brian out of morbid curiosity, due to the gross way in which all three of those men were killed, because Henry is afraid those images are already burned into his mind for life as it is. but somehow Henry is finding it difficult not to keep looking at them anyway, as if his mind needs a continual reminder that what he just saw happen was real.

Henry then speaks up to ask Jacob if they can leave now, since Henry isn't ready to part company with him and Cora just yet, due to having no ride out of this place, as well as still being somewhat concerned about Malachi's remaining men, some of whom he assumes could at least theoretically still be waiting just outside for them somewhere, to try and exact some form of revenge on them for what just happened to their comrades. Henry also does wonder if maybe getting Jacob to get Cora to let them go was not the smartest idea after all, but he pushes that thought from his mind, since he thinks that ship has sailed. Jacob looks at Cora, who nods at him in agreement with Henry that they should leave now.

but before they do that, Jacob quickly goes to the camera, which is still set up and running beside the teleprompter, to shut it off, and to also extract the memory card from it, along with the one from the teleprompter's electronic base, and then Jacob places both of the memory cards into the back pocket of his trousers where he also still has the printed copy of the script that Malachi gave him to study before making him start the video. while Jacob does that, Henry asks him what he's doing. Jacob explains that he's not leaving this stuff behind for Walt to find, because he says he has no choice but to assume that Walt will get the wrong idea about it, like he usually does, and that Walt may try to use this false confession against Jacob without realizing, or even caring about the fact that Malachi forced him to make it against his will.

Henry just rolls his eyes and doesn't try to stop Jacob from taking the memory cards, even though he thinks that taking them will only serve to make Jacob look worse in the eyes of the law, but Henry feels like he's in no position to really argue with Jacob about that right now. but then Cora speaks up to tell Jacob that maybe it would be better for him to just let her destroy those memory cards, and while Jacob appears to seriously consider her offer, Henry speaks up again to tell Jacob that is not the best idea, because he says destroying evidence is a crime, and that things already look bad enough here for them as it is. when Jacob doesn't look convinced, Henry explains that the evidence on the memory cards could be used in Jacob's favor if Walt or anyone else were to try and come after him for what happened to Malachi and the other two men who Cora crushed to death, since technically the false confession is actually proof that Jacob was put under duress here at the sawmill, so as long as the video is properly analyzed, Henry argues, then it can be used against Malachi rather than Jacob, to actually help exonerate Jacob of being in cahoots with Malachi and his scheme, like Henry admits that Walt still probably suspects Jacob of at this point, knowing Walt.

Jacob cocks his head a bit while he considers that, and he decides to just hang on to the memory cards for now, so he goes ahead and places them in his pocket and tells Cora they will worry about it later. Cora just shrugs, content to let Jacob do as he sees fit with those things. then Jacob goes to follow Cora out of the building when she motions for him to do that, and Henry follows them. when they get outside, Henry sees that there are no vehicles anywhere in sight, because Malachi's men took all the ones they had when they escaped from the sawmill to flee from Cora, and it does not appear that Cora brought one herself.

so Henry asks Cora how they are supposed to get out of here, and Cora tells him that they will have to walk a little ways to get back to the place where she left her truck parked on the side of the road, which she says is a few miles across the desert from here, and she points off into the direction that she intends to lead them on foot. when Henry hears this, he says whoa, and he asks Cora to wait a minute while he goes back inside the building to look around for some water first, since after Henry's previous ordeal in the desert, the last thing he wants to do is take the risk of becoming stranded out in the desert without any water again. realizing Henry's concern, and not faulting him for it, Cora and Jacob wait patiently for Henry to find a cooler that was left behind by Malachi and his men, and as soon as he does find one, Henry snatches the biggest bottle out of it to carry along with him on their hike, before returning to Cora and Jacob to tell them that he is ready to go now, as he holds up the water bottle he took, to show it to them. Jacob nods at Henry in approval of this, then he turns to follow Cora, and Henry follows them too as they begin walking across the desert, trusting Cora to take them in the right direction, as well as to keep them safe from any of their remaining enemies.


	51. 51

after leaving the sawmill, Cora, Jacob, and Henry walk together through the scrubby desert of the Crow res in order to get to the dirt road where Cora told them she had left her truck parked. as Jacob and Henry both struggle a bit to watch their footing as they hike across the rough terrain, Henry notices that Cora has to periodically stop and wait for them as she easily marches on ahead of them without so much as breaking a sweat. while Cora waits for them to catch up to her again, Henry asks Cora why she left her truck parked so far away. Cora explains that it was a lot faster for her to just cut across the desert by that point instead of following the roads the rest of the way to the sawmill, and she says she had gotten the sense that Jacob and Henry were in some serious trouble there, and that she didn't want to waste any more time. Henry looks skeptical at that, and he wonders how Cora was able to find out so quickly where he and Jacob were taken, but Henry decides not to question her on that any further, figuring that the most truthful answers she could provide on that subject would only serve to disturb him even further.

after a little while of walking together in silence, Henry gasps as he nearly steps on a rattlesnake, but he manages to jump back in time to narrowly avoid being bitten by it. the snake coils, hisses, and rattles as it rears it's head threateningly at Henry, and Cora raises her hand to hold Jacob back as she steps forward to get in between him and the snake that's on the ground just a few feet away from them. while Henry takes another step back, Cora lunges for the snake to quickly stomp on its head before it can bite anyone. she stomps on it twice, crushing its head thoroughly with her boot, and after it has stopped moving, she bends down to pick it up by the tail and hold it up to look at it for a moment, making sure it's really dead. once she is satisfied with her handiwork, she flings the dead snake away from them so that it lands several yards in a different direction than where they are going to be walking, and she mutters in an annoyed tone, stupid rattlesnakes. 

then Cora quickly returns to Jacob's side, and Jacob brushes her arm with his hand as a silent thank you before they continue walking again with Henry following closely behind. Henry figures after that, it's probably better to just let the apparently invulnerable person lead the rest of the way for him. while they continue to walk, Henry thinks back on the incident with the rattlesnake that Cora just killed, and how it reminds him of when he saw Hector, the original Hector, or rather his spirit, or whatever it was, pull out a pistol to shoot a rattlesnake that had slithered dangerously close to Henry while Henry was still tied down in the desert and being left to slowly die of thirst. Henry silently thanks whatever spirits might be at work here now for also offering him a ride home this time, and he takes a drink from the water bottle he's carrying with him, which he made sure to grab from a cooler that was left behind by Malachi's men at the sawmill when Henry found out they would be walking a few miles through the desert to get out of there.

eventually Cora leads Jacob and Henry towards the edge of a pretty steep cliff that stretches quite a ways into the distance on both sides of them. before they get there though, Henry is the first one who gets the sense that there may be a significant drop-off not too far ahead of them, and he speaks up to tell the other two that it looks like they may be coming up on a cliff. after hearing this, Cora quietly says uh-oh, under her breath, although both Jacob and Henry hear her, and the two of them stop walking and exchange concerned glances with each other. then Cora suddenly takes off from them, and she runs over the rough terrain of the land they've been crossing to assess the potential obstacle ahead before the two men who are following her can get to it. Cora jogs up to the nearest edge and looks down and off to either side of the cliff as she tries to remember this geological feature from her trip over to the sawmill from her truck. Cora finds that she can't quite remember all of the details from her trip over, because of the state she was in at that time, although she is pretty sure she did not have to take any detours on the way over, and she is at least 100% sure that she's going in the right direction to make it back to her truck.

when Cora hears the two men approaching her from behind as they catch up to her, she runs straight back to Jacob to tell him about the cliff, and with an embarrassed expression, she apologizes for having apparently forgotten about it. Henry says he wants to see this cliff for himself, and Jacob says he does too, so Cora walks with them as both Henry and Jacob make their way to the edge of the cliff to do their own assessment. when Henry gets to the edge of the cliff, he stands there with his hands planted on his hips, and his expression looks stern as he looks over to see how steep it is. when Jacob sees how steep it his, he says whoa in surprise, and then he looks over at Cora with raised eyebrows. Henry looks over at Cora to ask her if she is sure this is the way she came in. Cora nods and adamantly says she is sure, although she admits not quite remembering this cliff, and she insists she knows her truck is "that way", as she points her finger in the direction straight beyond the cliff's edge.

Henry and Jacob look at each other again with perplexed expressions, and then they both look back at Cora. Jacob says well, they can't go this way, because it's too steep for him and Henry to climb down. Henry narrows his eyes at Cora and looks at her sternly, and he asks her if she is sure she did not have to go the long way around this thing. Cora says she is sure, because even though things from that time are kind of hazy to her now, she is sure she would remember the annoyance of having to go around something like this when she was in such a hurry. Henry shakes his head as he realizes, at this point, that Cora could have simply used her powers to get herself over the cliff somehow, and he decides not to think about it too much. Jacob comes to the same realization, and he tells Cora that he has no doubt this cliff was no obstacle for her, and he says that's probably why she doesn't remember it. 

Cora says she is sorry about making the two of them have to walk farther than she thought they would have to, and she squints her eyes and she looks off into the distance on one side of them, and then the other, trying to figure out which side of the cliff is the shortest from their position, but she doesn't have much luck with that. luckily for them, Henry has good instincts for this sort of thing, and he points to their left and says that's the way they should go to get around the steepest part of the cliff and find a place where they can walk down to get to the bottom of the slope. Cora and Jacob look at each other, and Cora just shrugs, so Jacob says it sounds like a plan, and they all agree to go Henry's way.


	52. 52

they finally make it around the cliff, after having to walk at least an extra mile and a half to get past it, and after another mile or so of walking after that point, Jacob stops and breathes heavily as he bends over to rest his hands on his knees because he is getting tired, and he is becoming increasingly sore in the places where he was beaten by Malachi's thugs right before being made to start the confession video that Malachi had forcefully ordered him to create. when Henry sees this, he stops and looks at Jacob with some concern, since Henry isn't having the same problem himself, despite the fact that he was also beaten pretty badly, and he wonders if Jacob is more seriously hurt than he has been letting on. then Henry remembers that Jacob is quite a few years older than he is, plus Henry has been working out a lot recently, since becoming the new Hector.

Cora turns around and rushes over to Jacob, asking him if he is ok, and she gently places one of her hands on his shoulder, clearly wanting to help him in any way she can. Cora however does not want to offend Jacob by going to the extent of offering to bodily drag or carry him across the desert herself, at least not in Henry's presence, even though she could do that easily enough if necessary, since she is well aware of how prideful men can get about their physical abilities, so Cora is content enough to hold off on suggesting that unless Jacob were to become more seriously incapacitated for some reason. Jacob says yeah, and that he is ok, or he says at least mostly ok, as he slowly straightens himself up, and he moves one of his hands to his abdomen where it especially hurts as he concentrates on catching his breath and trying not to wince too much.

Jacob looks at Cora's obviously worried face and says assuringly that he just needs to rest for a few minutes and then he will be fine. Cora tells Jacob ok, that is fine, and she says if he needs to rest then he needs to rest, and that there is no shame in that. then Cora carefully guides Jacob over to a nearby rock that looks suitable enough for him to sit down on, and motions for him to do that while telling him that he should sit down here for a while. Jacob gingerly sits down on the rock that Cora brought him over to, while continuing to hold his hand against the sorest spot where he was punched particularly hard near the side of his stomach, and he winces while he situates himself on the rock. while Cora stands by Jacob protectively, she holds out her hand to Henry and motions for him to hand her the bottle of water that he's been carrying. Henry readily comes over to hand his water bottle over to her, which she takes, and then she immediately offers it to Jacob, saying that he should have some of this water. Jacob obligingly takes the bottle from her, and he takes a few sips from it before replacing the cap and then holding it out to give it back to her. Cora takes the bottle from him and quickly tosses it back over to Henry, who deftly catches it despite what little warning he was given that Cora was going to do that.

then Cora crouches on the ground directly in front of Jacob and quietly asks him if he will let her see the spot where he is obviously hurting so much. Jacob says there is probably not much to see there except for maybe a bruise, but he decides to humor Cora by unbuttoning his shirt for her anyway, sensing by her expression and her body language that she really wants him to go ahead and do that. when Jacob pulls his shirt open, he leans back and tries to look down at his sore spot to see it for himself, which he can only just barely manage to do since several other places on his body were also hit pretty hard, and are also therefore just about as painful for him to flex for the time being, but Jacob clenches his jaw to avoid vocalizing his discomfort too much. Cora moves in closer to take a look at the spot herself that Jacob has willingly exposed for her to see, and she sees that a large patch of Jacob's skin in that area has already started to turn an ugly shade of purple. Cora instinctively raises one of her hands to reach over towards the spot, as if she wants to touch it, but she hesitates and looks up at Jacob to see his reaction first. Jacob is a little nervous about this, but he doesn't make any move to stop her, so Cora carefully goes ahead and lightly touches the bruised area on Jacob's abdomen, trying to feel for swelling without applying too much pressure, and to lightly caress Jacob's bruise for a moment out of sympathy for his pain.

Jacob tolerates it patiently, and Cora doesn't notice that his heart-rate increases significantly at the feel of her touching him in such a sensitive place, and Jacob is careful to suppress any urge he might have to gasp at the feeling, especially since what he is feeling in that moment isn't entirely unpleasant to him, and he doesn't actually want Cora to get spooked into stopping what she is doing too soon if he should react too strongly to her. after a few moments, Cora slowly pulls her hand back, but she stays crouched in the same position right in front of Jacob and looks up at him worriedly. Jacob looks down at Cora's face and feels rather touched by her obviously genuine concern for him, and her gentleness towards him, despite the level of horror and brutality that he is only beginning to know her to be capable of, at least when she has been properly angered.

Jacob sees the clear devotion in her eyes and he nearly flinches when she rests her hand lightly on one of his thighs, although he finds that her touch does not make him feel threatened as much as it makes him feel comforted, as well as a little lustful even despite his pain, which he only half hopes that Cora does not notice too much right now. Jacob reaches down to brush a lock of Cora's hair away from her forehead, and he tells her honestly that he really appreciates all her help and support. Cora says it's no problem as she affectionately gives Jacob's thigh a light squeeze, and then she moves her eyes to stare at Jacob's chest for a few moments while he still has his shirt unbuttoned, and she hopes that she doesn't look too predatory about it. Cora doesn't want to outright admit that she is actually seriously attracted to Jacob, because she doesn't want to freak him out about it, since she is content to serve only as Jacob's bodyguard if that's all he wants from her, and which she wouldn't blame him for considering her less-than-human nature, as she sees it, and which has now only been made even more evident due to how she just handled the situation back there with Malachi.

Jacob sees Cora staring at his body and realizes why she is probably doing that, even though he can tell that she's trying not to be too obvious about it. Jacob realizes that it's for something else besides her just worrying about his health, and although he doesn't want to move yet, nor do anything to make her move away from him either, he hopes that she will not notice the semi-erection that's threatening to create a noticeable bulge in the crotch area of his trousers, especially considering Cora's current proximity to that area of his body as she continues to crouch near his lap with her hand resting nonchalantly on his thigh. Jacob thinks wonderingly about how he has never felt this aroused in such a crazy situation before, and he also can't help but wonder what might actually be going on right now between them if Henry didn't happen to be here with them as a sort of inadvertent chaperone.

Jacob thinks that if he were alone with Cora right now, then he might be inclined to try and kiss her, since she is looking pretty damn beautiful at the moment, despite the paleness of her white skin, and Jacob senses that she probably wouldn't mind him doing that too much. of course, she still makes Jacob feel a little nervous, especially after what he just witnessed her do, but he finds that the feeling of danger her presence tends to invoke, whether she means for it to do that or not, is oddly enough making him feel even more attracted to her right now, and even kind of exhilarated by it. Jacob wonders if this is anything like how the male black widow spider must feel when he is about to successfully mate with a female member of his species that is twice his size, and might very easily proceed to eat him right after the sex act is complete.

although Cora is hardly twice Jacob's size, she is at least a few inches taller than him, since Jacob is actually kind of short, and her powers make her size pretty irrelevant anyway. in fact, they make her infinitely more dangerous than even the most venomous spider could ever manage to be to anything, and Jacob wonders how possible it might be for him to persuade her to submit to him in bed, and he tries to imagine the sense of triumph he might feel if he could somehow manage to pull that off as well as succeeding in pleasuring her in that way. part of Jacob feels like this would be an impossible task for the likes of him to manage, because he is only a regular man, and maybe not such a great one at that, if he's being honest with himself. but then again, it's hard for Jacob to ignore how readily attentive Cora has become to him, especially since Jacob's trouble with Malachi first began, and so he decides not to rule out the possibility, and he decides that maybe he will try and make a move on her later on, sometime when they are alone together.

Henry stands by at a respectable distance while staying just within earshot of the quiet voices of his two companions, and he watches the subtle transaction between Cora and Jacob out of the corners of his eyes, trying to look like he's minding his own business while feeling perplexed by how Jacob of all people could wind up with such a powerful and dangerous creature becoming so obviously devoted to him, which Henry can't help worrying about, since he doesn't entirely trust all of Jacob's motives or his discipline to keep such a creature from causing too much chaos, when it's clear that she can and will apparently do just about anything for him. Henry worries about how this relationship could affect the future of their tribe, with Jacob occupying such a high position on the tribal council, while simultaneously having the likes of Cora at his Beck and call, and Henry can only hope that the kind of power Cora can offer Jacob doesn't wind up going to his head.

Henry also notices Cora's physical attraction to Jacob, realizing that it's more than just platonic affection she is showing for him, and although Henry would never admit it, he actually finds himself feeling a little bit jealous of that, as he thinks back on Deena, and how badly his relationship with her ended for him, and how Deena betrayed him, despite how devoted he was to her for so many years. Henry wonders if he will ever be lucky enough to find a woman who would show him even half the loyalty that he has seen Cora displaying for Jacob, especially considering how, as far as Henry can tell, Cora has no other apparent motive to do anything she is doing now outside of her personal feelings for Jacob.

after a few minutes, Jacob says that he is ready to get going again, and after buttoning his shirt back up, he moves to stand up after Cora backs away from him to give him some space, and she straightens herself to resume escorting Jacob and Henry out of the desert. when they finally make it to Cora's older black Ford F150 pickup, Cora pulls her keys out of her pocket to unlock the driver's side door, since, unlike most other Wyoming residents, she always locks her vehicle and takes the keys with her out of habit, no matter how remote the location happens to be wherever she leaves it parked. after Cora opens the door and presses the unlock button to let Henry get into the passenger side, she stands aside to let Jacob enter the cab on her side first, which is a regular sized cab, so that Jacob will end up sitting in the middle between her and Henry while Cora drives the truck.

after Jacob gets in and works on situating himself on the seat to minimize his pain, Cora asks him if he is sure he doesn't want to go to the hospital. Jacob says yeah, he is sure, because nothing is broken, and he says all he really needs is a little rest at home to recuperate for a few days. Cora nods and climbs in behind the wheel, being careful not to accidentally bump Jacob too much because she doesn't want to hurt him. after she is situated beside Jacob, she asks him if he thinks it might be better for them to continue staying at their rented cabin for a few extra days or so, at least until they can get wind of how the authorities' subsequent investigation at the sawmill is going to shake out. Jacob admits that might be a good idea, and he looks over at Henry, who is sitting on the other side of him, to see if Henry has an opinion of his own to share on the subject.

but since Henry seems to be not paying any attention at the moment, Jacob nudges him with his elbow and asks him to say what he thinks. Henry turns his head quickly to Jacob as he is surprised out of a daydream, and he says, huh, and asks, what, to get Jacob to repeat whatever question he is expecting him to answer. Jacob asks Henry if he thinks they should stay at the cabin for a little while longer, for safety reasons, before actually heading home. Henry shakes his head and says no, and that he just wants to go home now, and that he really needs to get back to tending his bar. Jacob nods and says ok, but Cora looks around Jacob to look at Henry and asks him if he is sure about that, because she says she thinks it's still at least remotely possible that some of Malachi's men might want to try and get revenge for what she did to their leader and his second-in-command, or whatever Darius was to Malachi.

Henry shakes his head again and says that he is not worried about any of Malachi's men being stupid enough to try coming after them again, not after what they clearly saw will happen to them if they should break their promise to leave the three of them alone, referring to the strange and brutal way in which Cora killed Malachi, Darius, and Brian right in front of them all. Cora just shrugs, deciding that Henry can do as he pleases as long as it doesn't harm Jacob in any way, and she puts her key into the ignition to start the truck's engine. after thinking about what Henry said for a moment, Jacob tells Cora that he agrees with Henry, and that he also wants to be taken home right after they drop Henry off at his bar. Cora says ok, but only if Jacob is not going to get too annoyed by her being a helicopter-bodyguard for at least the next couple of weeks or so while things settle down. Henry smiles at Cora's comment as he looks off into the distance out of the passenger door window, and Jacob laughs, saying that he has already gotten pretty used to her being like that all the time anyway, no matter where they have been lately. Cora smiles at Jacob and winks at him before putting the truck in drive and pulling out onto the road to finally get them off the Crow res, hoping that it's for good this time.

after leaving the Crow res in Cora's truck, and after stopping by the rented cabin once more, just to quickly grab their things that they had left there, Cora drives Jacob and Henry to the Red Pony as promised, in order to drop Henry off at his bar for the night. during the drive there, Jacob asks Henry once more if he is sure he doesn't want to at least stay at Jacob's house for the night, to stay there with him and Cora, for protection, but Henry declines while still insisting on being taken home to the Red Pony, although he genuinely thanks Jacob for his kind offer. Jacob nods and tells Henry it's no problem, while Cora stays quiet and continues to drive them to Henry's bar.


	53. 53

it's pretty late in the afternoon by the time they make it to the Red Pony, and after Cora parks the truck outside, the three of them get out to stand together in the parking lot and talk for a bit before Henry goes inside. Cora asks if she should go inside the bar first, to check the place out and make sure it's safe for Henry. Cora looks to Jacob for an answer though, rather than Henry, and Jacob nods, saying he thinks that's a good idea. Henry thanks them for the offer, but declines again, insisting that he will be fine, and he highly doubts that anyone else will try to come after them now, considering how badly things ended for Malachi as a result of messing with them. Jacob nods at Henry and reiterates that if Henry ever doesn't feel safe for any reason, then he is always welcome in Jacob's home. Henry thanks him again for that, and after nodding amiably at Cora, who stays quiet and content to follow Jacob's orders, Henry turns to go inside his bar, but he is stopped by Walt, who comes walking quickly towards the three of them from around the side of the building, along with Ferg, who approaches from the other side to back up Walt.

Walt had been staking out the Red Pony ever since finding the remains of Malachi, two of his henchmen, including Lane Potter, who Walt noted was the only one who had apparently died back there in a remotely normal way, and one Irish mobster named Brian O'Keane at the sawmill on the Crow res shortly after Henry and company had left there, in the hope that Henry would make it back to his bar before the night was over. Walt is relieved to see Henry alive, and he calls to him and the two others who are with him, holding his hand up and telling them to stay where they are as he approaches them without his gun drawn, although Ferg approaches them with his gun held in a ready position. Henry is surprised to see Walt here so soon, and does what he is told and continues to stand near Jacob and Cora, while Cora protectively moves closer to Jacob as Walt and Ferg simultaneously convene on the three of them. Walt and Ferg both stop a few feet away from the trio, and Ferg is looking a bit nervous as he adjusts his grip on his revolver to hold it more firmly in both of his hands, although he keeps it pointed at the ground for the time being. Walt motions for Ferg to put his gun away though, so Ferg does it, albeit somewhat reluctantly, while continuing to stand by Walt until he is told to do otherwise.

Walt addresses Henry first, worriedly asking him where he's been. Henry sighs and says he has been out dealing with a complication. Walt asks Henry if that complication was Malachi. Henry nods, noticing how Walt just used past-tense there while referring to Malachi, so he assumes that Walt has been to the sawmill already. Henry refuses to completely lie about what happened, but he is reluctant to say anything more than he has to, as he realizes that Walt must have already found the bodies at the sawmill, and Henry isn't sure of what Walt could be thinking about what really happened there, especially considering the state that three of the bodies were left in. Walt sees the bruises on Henry's face and asks him if he is alright. Henry says yes, he will be fine, and that he just needs to get some rest. Walt nods, but he is not ready to let Henry go just yet, and he points over at Jacob and Cora while he continues to address Henry, asking him why these two are here. Henry says they gave him a ride home. Walt asks from where, and he asks if it was from the Crow res.

after a moment of hesitation, Henry reluctantly nods, then he admits that he and Jacob were both kidnapped by Malachi earlier in the day, and that they were taken there against their will. Walt glances at Cora, and asks Henry if she was there too. Henry says yes she was, because he admits that she came there to rescue both him and Jacob. Walt says uh-huh, and he asks Henry if Cora went there on her own, or if she had taken any of Jacob's other security guards with her, because Walt wants to know what happened to the dead security guard he found by the river just outside the Crow res. 

Henry says no she did not, because he says by that time, Jacob's security team had been compromised by the Irish mob, who were still working with Malachi. Henry goes on to explain how they were able to kidnap him and Jacob by staging an attack at the casino to make them believe it wasn't safe for them to stay there, so that a mobster named Brian, who was pretending to be one of Jacob's security guards, could get them into a vehicle that he was driving on the pretense that he was taking them somewhere safe, when he was really just bringing them to Malachi. Henry says that when he figured out they weren't going in the right direction to get to Jacob's house, he called the driver out on this, and the driver stopped the vehicle and suddenly drew his pistol, which he used to shoot the one real security guard who was in the car with them in the head, to kill him right in front of Henry and Jacob. Henry says after that, the mobster, as he turned out to be, restrained both Henry and Jacob and then dumped the body before taking them to the sawmill to turn them over to Malachi.

Walt asks Henry what happened after that. Henry says Malachi forced Jacob to make a false confession to Malachi's crimes by holding a gun to Henry's head and threatening to shoot him if Jacob didn't go through with it. Walt looks surprised by this as he glances over at Jacob suspiciously. Walt tells Henry that must be why he found a digital video camera and an electronic teleprompter set up at the sawmill near the dead bodies of Malachi and two of his henchmen, except the memory cards from both devices were missing, and Walt asks all three of them if they know what happened to those. Henry looks at Jacob to answer that question, since Jacob is the one who took the memory cards and put them in his pocket, which he did on Henry's advice rather than letting Cora destroy them.

Jacob hesitates to answer as Walt looks at him sternly, and then Cora speaks up in order to lie a little, to protect Jacob, by telling Walt that she is the one who is holding the memory cards herself for the time being. Walt looks at her skeptically and asks her why she is the one who has them. Cora tells Walt because she wants to hang onto them right now for safe keeping. Walt repeats safe keeping in a questioning tone, as if he doesn't believe this, and he tells Cora that she should know that she took vital evidence from a murder scene, and that he is going to need her to hand those things over to him right now. Cora refuses to do so by telling Walt no, and that she is not going to hand them over to Walt in particular. Walt asks her why. 

Cora says because, frankly, she doesn't trust Walt to handle that kind of evidence properly, not with Walt's well-known harassment of her boss, referring to Jacob, along with actually trying to get him killed at least a couple of times now, and also with Walt's recent civil trial where he was being accused of all sorts of nasty corruption, which she reminds Walt that he only got out of because Jacob chose to show him some mercy during his testimony. Cora goes on to say that she will just hang onto the memory cards herself for now, to make sure they don't get compromised or misused in any way, clearly suggesting that she suspects Walt would be inclined to do that. Walt looks indignant at the insinuation, and he asks Cora how long she is planning to withhold that evidence from the authorities. Cora says at least until someone else takes over the investigation, someone who doesn't have as much conflict of interest going on as Walt does.

after thinking about it for a moment, Walt asks Cora if she would be willing to give the memory cards to Mathias instead. Cora looks over at Jacob for an answer, and Jacob looks at her, then at Henry. Henry nods and tells Jacob he thinks that would be a good idea. Jacob looks at Walt and says that they will take it under consideration. Walt nods with reluctant acceptance, although he doesn't look happy about it, but he's not ready to press that issue too hard just yet, since there are too many other bases he wants to try and cover here first, before completely alienating either Cora or Jacob by trying to force either of them to do anything against their will for now, especially after what happened the last time Walt tried to do that, which Walt finds that he remembers all too clearly as he recalls how Cora had managed to completely turned the tables on him in his own sheriff's station right after Walt had arrested Jacob for that heroin shipment.

since then Walt was able to figure out, with Henry's help earlier, that the guy who was really behind it was a guy named Johnny runs far, who was working in the shipping and receiving department of Jacob's casino, and who was signing for all of the shipments of fake Indian artifacts and secretly removing the drugs from the crates for Malachi whenever Johnny's supervisor at the casino would leave to go on his lunch break. in addition to that, Walt had also learned earlier that day from Mathias that Johnny was also the one who was seen firing off a gun just outside of the casino, which Walt now knows was just a ploy to scare Jacob into getting into a car with his security detail, who Walt also now knows had been infiltrated by the Irish mob in order to plant Brian O'Keane to help Malachi kidnap Jacob and also Henry, since Henry happened to be with Jacob at the time when this all went down.

then Walt asks Cora if she cares to explain how exactly she was able to rescue Henry and Jacob from Malachi. Cora struggles to answer, although she tries to, by saying that she just walked in, and then some weird stuff happened, and since it ended up working out in their favor, she was then able to free Jacob and Henry from the remaining thugs who were too scared to do anything else but run away. Ferg looks at Walt with a worried expression upon hearing this, because he has a bit of a phobia about evil spirits, and he senses that this is the direction the conversation is probably going in, especially considering the few previous encounters he's had with Cora already, but he chooses to stay quiet about it. Walt looks at Cora with a serious expression and he asks her what kind of weird stuff she is talking about. Cora simply tells Walt that it was spirits. Walt raises his eyebrows at that and repeats, spirits, in a questioning tone, then Walt asks Cora if she is the spirit, or if she controls the spirits that she is referring to. Cora shrugs and says she is not sure, but she says it had to be spirits of some kind, because she asks how else could you explain something like that.

Walt looks at Cora very carefully and notices that she does not flinch from his gaze, and her eyes are actually kind of creeping him out right now. Walt skeptically tells her to confirm if it was just a coincidence that these spirits showed up at the same time she did, because he says three of the bodies that he found in that sawmill, which he says were Malachi, Darius, and Brian O'Keane, were strangely mutilated, and someone's going to have to answer for that. Cora shrugs again and says she doesn't know, but she says she does know that Walt is going to have a pretty hard time tying anyone to this if it was the work of spirits. Walt asks Cora if she would mind coming into the station with him for some further questioning.

Cora says actually she would mind, because she says she doesn't have to go anywhere with Walt unless she's under arrest, and she says she has better things to do right now anyway. Walt asks her like what. Cora says like protecting Jacob from potential retaliation by Malachi's remaining men, who are still floating around out there, and she says because she knows that Walt won't do that for Jacob himself, no matter how much danger he might still be in. Walt says that maybe in that case he should go ahead and arrest her then. Cora rolls her eyes a bit and asks Walt if he will tell her something, and she asks him if she had just thought about killing Malachi, and then some spirits came and actually did that for her, then would that make her guilty of murder according to any laws that Walt knows of, just because she had thought about it. Walt asks her if that is really the kind of thing that she would be willing to put down in an official statement. Cora says yes, that is, but only if she was going to tell the truth about it, and she says she suspects Walt wouldn't want her to do that for obvious reasons. Henry speaks up then, and tells Walt that Cora does kind of have a point there, subtly suggesting that Walt should back off this line of questioning for the time being.

Walt looks at Henry consideringly for a moment, reading his expression, then he turns back to Cora and Jacob to tell them both that they should go on home now, and that he will have Mathias come over to question them both in the morning. Cora looks to Jacob for instruction, and Jacob says alright then, and he nods at Cora and touches her arm to indicate he wants her to take him back to her truck so they can leave now. Cora obligingly follows Jacob with her hand on his back, while not so subtly positioning herself defensively to stay between Jacob and Walt, and she gives Walt a few suspicious glances over her shoulder as she and Jacob walk away. Walt then tells Henry that he wants to talk to him inside, and he tells Ferg to go on home now and get some rest as well. Ferg has a very worried expression on his face after everything he just heard involving Cora and dangerous spirits, and after what he saw with his own eyes back at that sawmill, when he was there with Walt earlier and they found the bodies, but he knows that now is not the time to argue about it, so he simply nods at Walt and leaves to go back to his car as he was asked to. then Walt and Henry go into the bar together to have a private chat in Henry's office.

******

while Cora and Jacob are still sitting outside the Red Pony in Cora's truck, as Cora gets ready to start it up and drive away, Jacob asks her why she lied about having those memory cards, which Jacob himself took from the sawmill, because they contain his partially taped confession along with the script that Malachi wrote for him to read in front of the camera, as well as some possible footage of Cora and her so-called "spirits" in action when she showed up to interrupt Malachi's twisted video session. Cora says because she didn't want Walt harassing Jacob over them, or trying to accost Jacob to pry them off him, because she says she shares Jacob's worry that Walt might want to use them against Jacob somehow, if the context of the situation where Jacob was forced to confess to things he didn't do while under duress wasn't properly communicated to the authorities who might find themselves in possession of the video and the transcript. Jacob nods sadly, understanding how that could potentially become an issue if Walt were to gain possession of the memory cards himself, whether or not Walt had any deliberate intention of misusing them. 

Jacob thanks Cora for doing that for him, and he says he thinks that was probably a smart idea, since at this point he doesn't think that Walt is above doing exactly what Cora just said he might. Cora says it's no problem, then she holds out her hand and tells Jacob to go ahead and hand the memory cards over to her now, so that what she just told the sheriff won't technically be a lie anymore. Jacob sighs and looks around to make sure no one is watching before he reaches into his pocket to palm both of the memory cards, along with the paper version of the script that he also still has with him from Malachi, and he hands them all over to Cora. Cora takes the items, and she carefully slips the two memory cards into her own front pocket of her dark jeans before unfolding the piece of paper that Jacob also handed to her, to see what's on it. after skimming the text there, she wrinkles her nose in disapproval of the words, and she folds the paper back up to place it in the same pocket where she stashed the memory cards. then Cora promises Jacob that she will keep these things safe for him, until he decides what he wants to do with them. Jacob nods in agreement and thanks her for that, as there is no one else on this earth who Jacob trusts more than Cora right now to do that sort of thing for him. then Cora starts the truck and drives them away from the Red Pony, to take Jacob with her back to his house.


	54. 54

Walt follows Henry inside the office of the empty bar, which was closed early today due to lack of manpower while Henry was missing for the better part of the day, and Walt closes the door behind them and goes to sit down with Henry on the couch in there. Henry is wearily slumped on the couch with his arms folded across his chest, and after Walt sits down on the other side of the couch, Walt takes off his hat and thinks for a moment about how he is going to start this conversation. then after letting out a big sigh, Walt decides against trying to tip-toe around the subject, and turns to face Henry to say that he wants Henry to tell him what really happened out there. Henry lets out a big sigh of his own, and he asks what it is that Walt wants to know. Walt says just the truth. Henry looks skeptically at Walt for a moment, then he says that as far as he could tell, everything happened pretty much the same way that Cora had already described it to Walt. Walt nods, although not looking very convinced so far, and he asks Henry if he really believes that spirits are responsible for what happened to the three men who were killed at the sawmill. Henry says he is not sure what exactly they were, and that he would not know how else to describe them.

Walt asks Henry if he actually saw something attack those three men. Henry reluctantly says yes, while wanting to remain careful to not say anything particularly incriminating about Cora. Walt asks Henry to tell him what he saw. Henry sighs heavily again and looks Walt in the eye to ask him if he really wants him to do that. Walt quietly says yep, and continues to look carefully at Henry while waiting patiently for his response. Henry looks away as he hesitates and struggles to find the right words, trying to stay as honest as possible without saying too much, and he eventually just admits that he saw some strange claw-like things sort of materialize and grab the three guys who were crushed by them, and Henry swallows hard after saying that out loud, realizing how crazy it sounds, even though it's really only half of the truth, but Henry feels that telling the whole truth, by directly implicating Cora, would only make things worse for everyone involved, including Walt.

then Henry looks over at Walt worriedly to gauge his reaction to his words. Walt just nods and looks down for a moment as he thinks about it. Walt does not believe that Henry is lying to him, although he is sure that Henry is holding back some information, for whatever reason. Walt asks Henry if he thinks that Cora had anything to do with these claw-like things that just appeared. Henry says he is not quite sure, but he admits they only appeared after Cora walked into the building and found Jacob sitting in front of the camera along with Henry himself standing there with a gun held to his head.

Walt asks Henry if he saw anything else. Henry says yes, and he admits that he also saw some strange whirlwinds appear inside the building just before Cora arrived, or perhaps as she was arriving, and that then all of Malachi's men were disarmed when their guns flew into the ceiling. Walt looks perplexed by this, and he asks Henry what happened to the guns, because he says he didn't find any at the scene when he got there, which particularly concerns him because he says one of Malachi's men who was also killed, Lane Potter, was found shot in the back of the head. Henry tells the truth and explains that the guns formed into a pile on the ceiling, and that then they all just moved together across the ceiling, like they were being attracted by some huge magnet, until they sort of just exploded when they got over to the building's bay door entrance. Walt raises his eyebrows at this, and says well, that is convenient. Henry agrees by saying yes, it was, and that such a thing could not have happened at a better time for both him and Jacob, because he says by then it was clear to them both that Malachi had no intention of letting either of them live, no matter what they agreed to do.

Walt asks Henry if he can tell him how Lane got shot. Henry explains that happened before, when they all heard a strange noise, and he says Lane started freaking out about it and was threatening to leave, so he says Malachi simply executed him, and Henry says he supposes Malachi did that to make sure that no one else got the same idea. Walt remembers hearing a pretty strange noise at the sheriff's station when Cora came there to get Jacob out of his custody, and also back at Jacob's casino office when he went there to arrest Jacob, when Cora was there too, and he asks Henry what kind of noise it was that he heard. Henry says he has no idea, and that it was just a loud and very low humming noise, the kind you could feel in your bones, and he says he couldn't tell where it was coming from.

Walt asks if Henry thinks this sound had anything to do with what happened there afterward, because Walt is trying to figure out if there is any kind of information here at all that he could possibly use against Cora in a court of law, although Walt is honestly starting to doubt that at this point. Henry says it's possible, but he says he has no way to prove that, or really anything else he heard or saw happen in that place, and Henry decides to leave out the part when Jacob recognized the sound and tried to warn Malachi and his men about what was coming for them. as if partially reading Henry's mind, Walt asks Henry how Jacob reacted to all of this. Henry tells half of the truth to answer that by admitting that Jacob looked about as scared as everyone else did at the time, because even though Henry could see that Jacob clearly knew what the sound meant, which Henry doesn't mention out loud, he remembers that Jacob still looked pretty scared by it himself nonetheless.

Walt says uh-huh, and Henry goes on to say that after Malachi and the other two guys were killed, then he says everything settled down and seemed to go back to normal, and then he says the rest of Malachi's henchmen ran out and left the three of them alone, so then Henry says that he and Jacob and Cora also left the sawmill and had to walk across the Crow res to get to Cora's truck, and that then they stopped by the cabin they'd been renting to hide out from Malachi to grab their things before going home. Henry also decides to leave out the part where Cora threatened the rest of Malachi's men by telling them that she would hunt them all down if they ever caused her people any more trouble, before she actually let them leave, and that was only after Henry got Jacob to persuade her not to just finish them off right there, which it looked like Cora really wanted to do instead, but she had relented, apparently after choosing not to defy Jacob, if for no other reason.

Walt thinks about what Henry just told him, and he asks Henry how far they had to walk to Cora's truck. Henry thinks about it and honestly says that it was probably about five or maybe six miles altogether. Walt asks why they had to walk so far to her truck, because he asks why didn't she just drive it all the way to the sawmill, since he points out that it's not like there isn't a halfway decent dirt road that goes all the way to it. Walt knows that staying on the road would have added a few extra miles to the trip, but it seems to him like that is still a much faster way to get there instead of hiking on foot across the desert.

Henry says he's not sure exactly why Cora decided to approach the sawmill on foot, then he lies a little by saying he guesses it was probably for stealth purposes, even though he doesn't really believe that, because Henry doesn't want to admit that maybe Cora didn't need the truck to get to the sawmill very quickly once she'd honed in on the place where Jacob and Henry were being held captive, and were likely to be killed very soon, which is basically how Cora had explained it herself when Henry had asked her the same question himself while they were still walking to her truck. Walt says uh-huh, even though he's hardly convinced, then he just asks if there's anything else that Henry is able to tell him. Henry wearily shakes his head and says no, and that he has said all he can say for now, and that he really needs to be getting to bed. Walt says ok as he agrees to let Henry go for now, so Henry gets up and leaves the office to go upstairs to his room.

Walt decides to stay overnight in Henry's office though, leaving the door of the office open while he rests on the couch, just in case someone were to try and break into the bar to get at Henry. Walt recalls what Cora said about her wanting to protect Jacob from any possible retaliation attempts that could potentially still be made by Malachi's surviving men, and how she clearly accused Walt of not caring enough to do that himself. Walt admits to himself that she was probably right about that, in so far as Walt does indeed find it difficult to willingly offer Jacob any protection until Walt is pretty much forced to do so for some strictly professional reason, but Walt does care about Henry, and he has no intention of leaving Henry alone until he can be reasonably sure of his safety at least.


	55. 55

when Cora gets Jacob back to his house, she insists on carrying his things in for him, since she knows that he is still a bit sore from his beating. Jacob lets her do that, and thanks her for it. after they get inside, she takes Jacob's things to his bedroom, to set them down for him in there, and when she turns around to leave the room, she finds Jacob has followed her in there. Cora walks around him to leave the room, but as she walks by him, Jacob brushes her arm and asks her where she's going. Cora stops and turns to him to say that she was just going to go out in the living room for a while. Jacob just says oh, looking and sounding a bit disappointed by that, and he turns to go to his dresser to start looking for a t-shirt. Cora turns to face the doorway again, but she hesitates to leave just yet, wondering if Jacob is ok. as she continues to stand near the doorway, she turns to ask Jacob if he would like for her to bring him anything, like a drink or something. Jacob waits a moment to answer her as he begins taking off his shirt, and after he has it off, he tosses it aside and turns to face Cora with a soft expression. then Jacob tells her no, and that he doesn't need her to get him anything, but he says that she could stay in here with him, if she wants to. Cora looks at Jacob curiously and tries not to stare too much at his bare chest, because even though Jacob is not a very big guy, and he is an older guy, Cora thinks he is in remarkable shape for his age, and she finds it hard not to admire him for his looks, as well as for the kind of person he is. 

Jacob smiles at Cora in general appreciation and turns back to his dresser to continue looking for one of his more comfortable t-shirts. when Jacob turns his head away from her to do that, Cora takes the opportunity to admire Jacob's backside with more obvious interest, and although she is cataloging his bruises out of concern for his well-being in the process, that's not all she's doing there, because she is also seriously checking him out. when Jacob finds the t-shirt he was looking for, he takes it out, but he hesitates to put it on. instead, Jacob turns his head slightly to glance at Cora out of the corner of his eye, and he catches her ogling him while she thinks he isn't looking. Jacob quietly scoffs in amusement and shakes his head a little, wondering how the hell a magnificent creature like that could even be attracted to him in the slightest. Cora is embarrassed to realize that Jacob just caught her staring at him, and she hopes she hasn't offended him. then when Jacob turns back around to fully face her again, Cora looks away shyly while feeling a little bit ashamed of herself, and she wonders why Jacob asked her to stay in here with him. Cora thinks it must be because Jacob is more afraid of Malachi's remaining gangsters than he has been letting on, and that he just wants her protection from them, which she is happy to provide, but she feels awkward being in Jacob's bedroom, especially while he's trying to change his clothes.

Jacob frowns at Cora's reaction, wondering what's wrong. Jacob tosses the t-shirt he never put on aside, to let it sit on top of his dresser, and he steps closer to Cora to ask her if she is ok. Cora looks up at him quickly with a confused expression, not understanding why he would ask her that. after a moment, Cora just says yeah, actually meaning it for a second, but then she swallows hard and realizes that isn't entirely true as she looks away from Jacob again with a disconcerted expression. because ever since they got back to Jacob's house, the reality of what happened today has been sinking in for Cora, and she now feels pretty guilty about letting Malachi's goons kidnap Jacob, beat him up, and nearly kill him, along with his friend Henry, when she promised Jacob that she would never let anything like that happen to him. so for all her powers, cora wasn't able to prevent Jacob from getting hurt after all, and knowing that makes her feel really powerless all of a sudden. and then there's the fact that because of what she did back at the sawmill to rescue Jacob, she realizes that he now knows her true nature, or at least more of it than she would like for him to know, because of what he saw her change into back there. because of this, Cora thinks that Jacob now knows how ugly she really is, since she doesn't really feel like her human form is the real her, and sometimes it feels more like just a disguise that she has to wear to get along with humans. and now that she really likes Jacob, it makes her feel bad to know that he might actually think she is pretty gross now, and the very last thing she wants to do is mess up their professional relationship, because if that's all she can have with Jacob, then she'll gladly take that and be grateful for it.

when Jacob sees that Cora is trying to hide the fact that she's actually upset about something, he wonders what could possibly be wrong, and he takes another step towards her to look at her carefully. when Cora refuses to look up at him on her own, Jacob asks her to please talk to him. then Cora looks up at him to ask him about what. Jacob says he wants to know what's bothering her. Cora looks away from him again and shakes her head mournfully, not really wanting to talk about it, but she is getting the feeling that she is going to have to, in order to be fair to Jacob. when Cora doesn't answer him right away, Jacob turns to walk over to his bed and sit down on the edge of it, and he beckons Cora to come over with him. Cora comes over right away to stand by Jacob in a protective stance, thinking that he must only want her to guard him while he sleeps, which she is gladly willing to do for him. but Jacob pats the bed beside him, by his side that's closer to the head of the bed, and he asks her if she will sit down here with him. Cora just blinks at him for a moment, but then she does what he asked. after Cora sits down beside him, Jacob asks her if she will please tell him what is wrong.

Cora sighs, and after a moment, she sadly tells Jacob that she is sorry. Jacob is taken aback by this, wondering what she could possibly be apologizing for, and he honestly can't think of one thing it could be, so with a confused expression he asks her what she thinks she has to be sorry for. Cora says for letting him get kidnapped, among other things. Jacob shakes his head and tells her that wasn't her fault. Cora argues that it was her job to protect him, and that she never should have left him in that car. Jacob reminds her that she asked him what he wanted her to do there, and that he was the one who told her to stay behind to look for that shooter back at the casino. Cora shakes her head and admits that she is the one who suggested she should stay behind to do that, even though she knew Jacob didn't really want her to, and she insists that she should have known better. Jacob looks down at the floor while he is speechless for a couple of moments, as he can hardly believe that after everything Cora did to rescue him and Henry, that she could somehow still feel guilty about anything, and he is having a hard time looking for the right words to set her straight. while Jacob is thinking, Cora goes on to say that she's also kind of surprised that Jacob would even want her anywhere near him anymore after what he saw. Jacob quickly turns his head to look over at Cora in dismay that she could think such a thing, and it breaks his heart to see how sad she looks right now, but he doesn't know how to tell her just how beautiful he really thinks she is, at least not in the way that would fully convey his true feelings for her, because he's not really sure how to describe those kinds of feelings exactly anyway, at least not with words.

Jacob has not had many strong romantic relationships in his time, or really any, if he's being totally honest with himself. he had a few girlfriends here and there back when he was younger, like back in his 20's and 30's, but because he was so heavily involved with the American Indian Movement around that time, he never felt like he had the time that was needed to devote himself to a woman and actually make her love him, so he just focused on his activism instead. then he went on to return to the Cheyenne res and started building his casino, and then he really didn't have the time for it, and he never felt like he was really missing out on much anyway. and it's not that he didn't get offers from time to time, but all the women who approached him nowadays were either obvious gold-diggers or just not that interesting to him for whatever reason, so he continued to just focus on building his businesses. but now Jacob feels like he's been gifted with someone extraordinary, who is so powerful and can be so intimidating, and yet is so sweet and deferential to him in particular, and he feels like his mind is being a little blown by it, especially when this has happened so late in his life. Jacob is now in his 60's, and he doesn't even know how old Cora actually is, because he never bothered to ask her for her ID when he hired her, and he's only been paying her in cash because he didn't want to bother her with any paperwork when he was trying to get her to agree to come to work for him. Jacob can only guess that Cora may be in her mid to late 30's, based solely on her physical appearance, but he knows that appearances can be deceiving, especially considering Cora's spiritual nature, which Jacob knows that he scarcely has any real understanding of.

as Jacob turns to look at Cora again and study her, she only continues to sit beside him quietly while looking down at the floor in front of her with a somewhat depressed expression, as she continues to feel bad about at least partially failing Jacob. then Jacob decides to take the risk of expressing his feelings for her the only way he can think of, and he reaches out to gently stroke her arm and look at her with affection. although Jacob would be lying if he said that his knowledge of what Cora can do doesn't make him feel at least a little nervous to be this close to her, he can't deny his attraction to her anyway, and he already knows that she feels the same way about him, for whatever reason, even if she hasn't been willing to outright admit it yet. Cora looks over curiously at the hand Jacob is using to stroke her arm, and although she still doesn't want to look him in the face right now, she doesn't make any move to stop him from touching her. then Jacob carefully scoots over to sit closer to her, and he moves his hand to press it against the middle of Cora's back.

Cora sighs and closes her eyes as she experiences a strong feeling of relief in knowing that Jacob is somehow still not afraid to touch her, and she figures that Jacob is a very brave man. Cora also thinks that Jacob is not quite ready to lose her as a bodyguard just yet, and she assumes that this is the reason why he's trying to comfort her while she's feeling bad about messing up on the job. when Jacob sees that her reaction to his touch is a positive one, he starts rubbing his hand on her back, and then he moves his hand down to the small of her back to rest it there for a moment, before leaning in closer to slide his hand over and grip the side of her hip on the opposite side of him, so that he has his arm around her, and then he gives her an affectionate squeeze there. Cora just stays like she is for the moment, not wanting to interrupt him. then Jacob leans in even closer, bringing his face close to Cora's, and he reaches out his other hand to cup the opposite side of her face to coax her into facing him. Cora doesn't try to resist the movement, and as she turns her head the way he wants her to, she looks Jacob in the eye with an expression that is a pretty even mix of devotion and apology. Jacob returns Cora's gaze with an intense expression of longing, and he carefully moves in close to kiss her lightly on the corner of her lips, and while he waits for her reaction, he leaves his face close enough to hers to give her another kiss if she should indicate that she wants it. although Jacob's kiss was kind of a chaste one, Cora still felt the sensual undertone to it, and she moves her own head slightly to give Jacob a similar one back, to show her appreciation for it. while she is doing that, Jacob moves to take Cora into his arms and hug her firmly while he presses the side of his face against hers. Cora responds by hugging him back, and she moves to turn the hug into a more protective one on her part, wanting to make Jacob feel safe.

while they are holding each other, Jacob starts to breathe more heavily as he becomes more aroused by their contact, and Jacob takes the opportunity to move one of his hands back to grip the side of Cora's face firmly in his palm, and then he presses his lips more firmly against hers to give her a real kiss. Cora allows it, but after a moment, she breaks away a little to let out a gasp of surprise when it dawns on her what Jacob is apparently up to here, and although she doesn't pull entirely away from him, she pulls away just far enough to look him in the eyes again, to silently ask him what he is doing. Jacob answers her by saying she has done enough to take care of him, and that now he needs to take care of her for a while, and he moves himself to get one of his knees under him on the bed so that he can press himself more forcefully against Cora and push her down on the bed. Cora doesn't fight it, and once Jacob has her down, he kisses her again more passionately while repositioning himself on top of her, and coaxing her to spread her legs enough for him to rest his body in between them in the process. Cora responds by gripping the sides of Jacob's upper body and caressing him there while they continue to kiss, and when Jacob presses his groin into hers to let her feel his full erection through the pants they're both still wearing, Cora gasps again and goes a little stiff in his arms as she becomes nervous. Jacob stops and asks her if this is all right. Cora thinks about it for a brief moment before nodding her head and saying uh-huh, to indicate that she is willing to allow him to continue with what he's doing with her, although she realizes it's making her feel strangely submissive, which is a feeling that she is hardly used to. then Jacob moves to kiss Cora's neck, and he presses his groin against her again while letting out a soft moan of pleasure at the feeling of being allowed to have this kind of contact with her.

eventually Jacob coaxes Cora into helping him undress her upper body, and after they are both bare-chested, Jacob continues to kiss her passionately while cupping and squeezing her breast and rubbing his groin against her some more, to indicate his intense desire to go all the way with her. then while he is still kissing her, Jacob moves one of his hands down to the fly of Cora's jeans to start undoing it, and she eventually helps him get her pants off, along with her panties, and she manages to kick off her boots by herself to let them drop on the floor beside the bed, while Jacob does the same thing with his own boots, and then he also starts undoing his belt buckle. after Jacob gets his belt unbuckled, he moves his lips down to one of Cora's breasts to suckle on it, and Cora reaches down to stroke Jacob's hard erection through the pants he still has on for the moment. Jacob moans with pleasure at feeling her touching him there, and at that point he completely forgets about the pain of his bruises as he moves to help Cora get his own pants and silk boxers off. once they are both finally naked, Jacob presses his body firmly back in between Cora's legs, and after moving back in to kiss Cora's neck again, he carefully positions himself to begin penetrating her. Cora doesn't resist, but she does go kind of stiff while he does that, and she grips Jacob's hips firmly to let him know that she is ok with this anyway, even though it's scaring her a little. Jacob looks down at Cora with intense appreciation for her permission, and although he finds that she is plenty wet down there, she is very tight, and Jacob has to carefully struggle a bit to start pushing his cock inside her. after a couple of minutes of diligently working on it, Jacob manages to slip his cock all the way inside her, and they both gasp and tense up for a moment at the intense feeling of ecstasy this causes them both to experience at the same time.

once Jacob has recovered somewhat from that, he slowly begins thrusting, but only a little at first, until Cora loosens up for him some more. once that happens, then Jacob starts to get more serious about it, and he instinctively grabs both of Cora's wrists with his hands to hold her arms down against the bed beside her head, while he gains some leverage, and his motions gain speed while he puts some more power into steadily thrusting himself inside Cora. in the process, Cora's mind is taken over by the ecstasy of feeling Jacob do this to her, and she finds herself completely powerless to resist him, not that she actually would want to, but she has never had anyone make her feel this way before, and she can't help but find it a little scary still, because it's so new to her. then Jacob adjusts the angle of his thrusts to try and hit her g-spot, and Cora moans with the intense feeling of pleasure that borders on pain this causes her, which she is entirely unused to, and she tenses up and gasps in response to it because the feeling is so strange to her, even though it's far from unpleasant.

Jacob immediately stops moving, and through panting from his exertions, he asks Cora if she is all right, while he lets go of one of her wrists to move his hand to her face and stroke it with strong affection and concern. Cora nods and grips Jacob's hips firmly with her hands to try and pull him against her again, and through her own panting, she says she is good. in response, Jacob leans down to kiss her again, and when Cora relaxes some, he then resumes thrusting himself into her steadily again. when Jacob feels that Cora may be close to orgasm, he intensifies his thrusts to spur it on, and when she comes, she gasps Jacob's name and tenses her body against him again, to ride out the feeling. when Jacob feels this, he stops thrusting to press himself all the way into her, and to hold himself there firmly while she goes through it, and he also presses his face against hers and whispers her name, and tells her he's right here, and that he's got her, and he holds her tightly in his arms to comfort her.

as Cora becomes more accustomed to the feeling of having Jacob inside her, she moves to reverse their positions, to get on top of him, and she uses her own strength to pin Jacob down while she takes control of the action for a while. Cora moves her body smoothly while she rides Jacob carefully, but intently, and she bends down to kiss him and suckle on his chest when he responds positively to her ministrations by moaning softly with pleasure. while Cora gives herself to him this way, Jacob is overwhelmed by the feeling of exhilaration, that's mixed with just a bit of fear, that rushes through him at the feeling and the thought of having such a powerful female being doing this kind of thing to him right now. it soon becomes too intense for Jacob to handle without prematurely ejaculating, so he pushes himself up to see if Cora will allow him to get back on top of her, and when she does, he is also grateful to find that she allows him to flip her over as well, so that he can get at her from her backside.

Cora moans loudly when she feels Jacob penetrate her from that position, and Jacob grunts periodically while he's thrusting himself into her that way, and he rests one of his forearms across the back of Cora's shoulders and presses on her there, to hold her down again, while he works hard on making her come again. it's not long before Cora comes again, even harder than she did before, and she gasps and moans Jacob's name at the intense feeling of what he's doing to her that sends her mind spinning in pure pleasure. Jacob whispers to her encouragingly through his own panting breath as he continues thrusting strongly and holding Cora down in his dominant position over her, and after a few more minutes of doing that to her, Jacob whispers again to ask her if it's ok for him to come inside her. Cora tries to look over at him with her bleary eyes, and she readily nods and manages to say uh-huh, and please, to indicate that she very much wants that. Jacob nods gratefully and moves one of his hands to the back of Cora's head to grip her firmly by the hair, while he concentrates on maintaining the momentum of his thrusts, and he repositions himself slightly to adjust his angle a bit while he works himself toward his own orgasm. after a couple more minutes of this, Jacob starts to come hard inside Cora, and he groans loudly with a level of pleasure that he has never quite experienced before with any other woman he's previously been with in his long life. when he's just about finished, Jacob stops thrusting so he can rest himself on top of Cora, while keeping himself firmly plugged inside of her body for several more moments, even after his orgasm is finally over. while Jacob pants heavily against Cora's back as he lays on top of her to recuperate from his exertion, he releases her hair and uses his hand to stroke the back of her head, while Cora reaches around with one of her arms to stroke Jacob's side in mutual appreciation.

after Jacob finally pulls himself out of her, he rolls off of her to lay down beside her, and right after Cora turns herself to face him, Jacob scoots himself over to her, wanting to cuddle with her. Cora readily accepts him, and they put their arms around each other, and they both hold each other that way for a while. then as Jacob starts to drift off to sleep, Cora slightly adjusts their positions so she can support Jacob in a way that's more comfortable for him, and she goes back to holding him in a more protective way as he falls deeply asleep in her arms, as Jacob has never felt more safe or satisfied in his life than he does right then.


	56. 56

early the following morning, Jacob is still sound asleep in Cora's arms, with his head resting comfortably upon her chest, when he is slowly awakened by a familiar, and yet still disturbing noise in the bedroom. the noise at this time is a very low humming, that sounds partially mechanical and electrical in nature, that is slowly oscillating in pitch, and seems to be coming from everywhere at once, and it only gets kind of rattly sounding when it winds down to its lowest octave. when Jacob comes to, he quickly realizes where he is, who he is with, and why, so he doesn't feel immediately too afraid, but he looks worriedly up at Cora, who he sees appears to be sleeping. Jacob moves his head up a little to stare at Cora's face while she has her eyes closed, and Jacob realizes that he's never actually seen Cora asleep before. Jacob sees that Cora looks pretty peaceful right now, as opposed to agitated, which makes Jacob feel relieved. and then she lets out a little sigh, and Jacob sees her eyes move under her eyelids, so Jacob realizes that Cora must be having a dream. Jacob slowly puts his head back down on Cora's chest and tries to relax again, knowing that the sound in the room is just coming from Cora, and he guesses that she just rumbles a bit in her sleep sometimes. as the noise continues, Jacob closes his eyes as he nuzzles his face gently against Cora's chest for a moment, then Jacob goes still as he begins to fall back asleep in the same position he was already in, since Jacob does not feel like waking Cora just yet, even if it would get her to stop making that creepy noise.

a few hours later, Jacob wakes up again to the exact same situation. this time he sits up, gently untangling himself from Cora so that he can sit up on the bed next to her. Jacob looks down at her wonderingly for several moments as her noise continues to blare all around him, then he reaches out to lightly stroke Cora's cheek for a moment, before moving his hand to her shoulder to give her a little shake while softly calling her name, to try and wake her as gently as he can. as Cora wakes, she takes in a sharp breath, and when she opens her eyes, all of the noise her sleeping mind was making stops abruptly as she is pulled out of her dream world. when Cora sees Jacob, she looks at him with a soft expression that conveys deep affection, and she is glad to find him still in the bed with her. then Jacob tells her good morning, and after she says morning back to him, he asks her if everything is all right, as he moves his hand to stroke her forearm while he waits for an answer.

Cora blinks slowly at him, then she takes a few glances around the room quickly before she settles her gaze back on Jacob, and she says yeah, and asks why it wouldn't be, with a somewhat concerned expression. Jacob admits he asked that because he heard her making her noise while she was sleeping, and he asks Cora if she felt threatened for any reason. Cora sits up in bed, absently tucking the sheet under her armpits to cover herself in a modest gesture, and she asks Jacob what noise. Jacob says you know, the humming noise. Cora thinks about it for a moment with a blank expression before coming to the realization of what Jacob means by that, and she sighs and covers her face with one of her hands in an embarrassed gesture as she says oh yeah, that. then she moves her hand from her face to look at Jacob again, and she says sorry about that, because she says she must have fallen asleep. Jacob nods and tells her that she was asleep, and he says that's perfectly fine, and that he just didn't know if she was upset about something. Cora cocks her head a little and looks at Jacob with a confused expression, and then she asks him why she would be upset about anything. Jacob shrugs and mentions that she was kind of upset last night about thinking she hadn't done her job right, and he's quick to add that he hopes she doesn't feel that way anymore, as he reaches out to grip Cora's forearm in his hand and squeeze it.

Cora nods as she remembers that, and although she won't admit it, she still does feel a bit guilty about that anyway, and she suspects that she probably always will, no matter what Jacob says about it. because even though Cora was able to use her powers to save Jacob in the end, she still feels like the whole incident should never have happened in the first place. then Cora moves forward toward Jacob to lay her head in his lap and wrap her arms around his waist. Jacob is a little surprised by this, and as Cora nuzzles his stomach just above his groin and squeezes him around the middle, Jacob relaxes and puts one of his hands on her back to start rubbing and stroking her there, ever amazed by how much affection such a fierce and powerful creature could be capable of showing him, and then he tells her his feelings on that out loud. Cora gives Jacob's torso another squeeze before she pushes herself up off his lap to look at his face, and she tells him that she loves him while cocking her head a little, as if this is just a given. Jacob takes a sharp breath before he tells her that he loves her too, and Cora just smiles at him appreciatively and gives him a sultry look. Jacob scoffs softly as he looks away from her bashfully.

then Jacob remembers what Walt said last night about sending Mathias over this morning, and Jacob scrambles to find his watch. he finds it down on the floor next to his pants, and while hanging over the side of the bed to look at it to see what time it is, he is unaware of the view of his ass he's giving Cora until she vocalizes her appreciation for it by saying mm-mm-mmm. Jacob ignores that for the moment as he see's it's going on 8 o-clock, then he crawls to get up out of the bed and stand on the floor next to it, and he turns to Cora to remind her that Walt is supposed to be sending Mathias over to talk to them this morning, and that Walt didn't say what time, and he says it's almost 8 o-clock. Cora raises her eyebrows as she recalls that, but she refuses to get panicked over it. instead, she stretches for a few moments before lazily crawling out of bed herself, and then she slinks around Jacob to head for the bathroom, and she tells him that she's going to take a shower. Jacob follows her in there, and when she realizes that he intends to get in the shower with her, Cora turns to him and offers to let him set the water temperature. after Cora steps aside to let him do that, Jacob goes ahead and does that, and then after he gets in the shower, Cora follows him in there so they can wash up together.

while they are doing that, Cora is happy to let Jacob stand under the shower head first, and she takes it upon herself to wash his back for him. Jacob allows this gratefully, as he finds that he loves the feeling of Cora's hands on him that way, as she is being so gentle and caring about it, despite the other kinds of things that Jacob is now aware of her being able to do with those hands. when Jacob is satisfied with his cleanliness, he turns around to take Cora by the hips and turn her around as he moves around her so they can trade spots. Cora easily allows this, since she hardly minds Jacob taking control of her that way. then Jacob returns the favor she did for him by proceeding to wash Cora's back for her, taking special care when he gets down to her butt, which he spends considerably more time on than what's really necessary. and after he's done with that, he wraps his arms around her middle and squeezes to hug her, and he plants little kisses along her spine while he presses himself against her from behind. Cora moves her own arms to press them against Jacob's, while he has his arms wrapped around her midsection, to show that she appreciates his affection.

after standing that way for several moments, Cora feels Jacob starting to breathe kind of hard, so she turns her head around just enough to get a look at him and make sure he's all right, and she is taken aback by the wild look she sees in his eyes, and how he is practically panting with what is clearly lust. Cora raises her eyebrows in surprise at his expression, having never seen Jacob quite like this before, because even though Jacob was pretty feisty with her just last night, she doesn't remember him looking quite this intense. Cora asks him if he's all right, and Jacob responds by tightening his grip around her and thrusting his hips forward to rub his very hard erection against Cora's thigh. Cora says oh, as she turns her head forward again and steadies herself in the shower while the hot water continues to pelt her back, and she asks what about Mathias, as she allows Jacob to move her legs apart the way he wants while he prepares to penetrate her again. Jacob says screw it, and then he pushes his cock inside her, and he makes it right about halfway in on his first thrust before he's stopped by the friction of her tightness, and he lets out a loud moan at the intense feeling at the same time Cora does. after they've both recovered from the initial shock of that feeling, Jacob thrusts again to bury himself the rest of the way inside her, and he slides his hands back away from her midsection so that he can grip both of her hips tightly in his hands, and then he begins steadily thrusting himself into her over and over. Cora moans and Jacob grunts as he increases the power and speed of his thrusts, and Jacob's bathroom is inundated by the sound of flesh-on-flesh, along with the vocalizations of a man and woman in the throws of sexual ecstasy, on top of the running water, while Jacob fucks Cora this way in the shower.

after just a little while of this, Cora comes hard, and she finds herself going a little weak in the knees from the overpowering feeling. Jacob responds by quickly grabbing her with both of his arms around her middle again, to hold her and to help support her while he continues to thrust. after making Cora come this way at least two more times, Jacob tells Cora that he needs to come, and Cora says please do, as she more than welcomes him to do that. Jacob comes inside Cora again, and he grinds his body hard against hers and groans while he continues to stay all the way inside her until he's finally through. after Jacob is finished coming, he winces as he carefully extracts himself from Cora, because he's still hard, and as he staggers a bit in the shower, Cora turns quickly to grab him by the arms to help steady him, and she has to call upon her powers just a little to regain enough strength that's needed to support him. Jacob is more than grateful for her support, and he leans forward against her wearily as she readily takes him into her arms to cradle his head against her chest. Jacob puts his arms around her again, and he lightly strokes her sides and back as he recovers from his orgasm, which he believes, although his mind is a bit hazy at the moment, was somehow even more intense and more powerful than the one he'd just had the previous night, thanks to Cora.


	57. 57

Jacob and Cora finally get themselves collected enough to finish their shower and start getting dressed, and that's when there's a knock at Jacob's front door. Jacob and Cora look at each other worriedly and they hasten themselves to finish getting dressed as the knocking continues. Cora just puts the same clothes she had on the previous day back on, while Jacob just puts on a pair of black jeans and the dark purple t-shirt he'd already gotten out the previous night. right after Jacob slips his boots on, he runs to the door to answer it, and he finds that it is, of course, Mathias. Cora quickly follows Jacob to stand behind him while Mathias says good morning to Jacob, and Jacob says good morning back to him. then Mathias moves his head to the side a little, to peer cautiously around Jacob, to eye Cora for a moment, while Cora looks back at Mathias with her eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, and then Mathias asks Jacob if it's ok for him to come in so they can talk.

Jacob opens the door wider and stands aside as he motions for Mathias to come in, but Cora doesn't move as she continues to stand where she is, as if silently daring Mathias to come too close, and her gaze upon Mathias intensifies as he steps carefully inside. Mathias stops when he sees that Cora is looking a bit too aggressive for his taste, and Mathias looks over at Jacob expectantly to see how he will handle this. Jacob steps over to Cora and grabs her by the arm to pull her closer to him, and Cora goes to Jacob willingly, so Mathias has more room to walk into the house. after Mathias takes another step or two into the house, then Jacob shuts the door and asks Mathias what's up, to begin their conversation. after glancing around at the interior of the house for a few moments, Mathias turns to Jacob and tells him he thinks that Jacob already knows what they need to talk about here, and Mathias rests his hands on his belt as he waits for Jacob to give him something, hoping that he won't have to spell it out for him. but Jacob shrugs and tells Mathias that he's going to have to be a little more specific. Mathias sighs and looks down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at Jacob, and Mathias says the memory cards, the ones that he says he knows Jacob took from the sawmill last night, and Mathias holds out his hand, expecting Jacob to just hand them over already. after a moment of silent contemplation, Jacob tells Mathias that he's not giving him anything until Mathias understands a few things first. Mathias nods and says ok, as he decides it's only fair to hear Jacob out first, so he puts his hand back down and waits for Jacob to make the next move.

Jacob pulls Cora with him towards the living room and motions for Mathias to follow them, so Mathias does. then Jacob motions for Mathias to take a seat in one of his chairs that's right across from his couch, while Jacob sits down on the couch with Cora, as he pulls her down next to him and continues to hang on to her arm to keep her calm. it works, and Cora does stay calm as Jacob continues to hold her by the arm, and for now, at least, she is apparently willing to do whatever he wants. and that is a pretty good thing at this time, since Cora has already taken a pretty strong dislike to Mathias. Mathias sees this plainly enough, and it makes him feel more calm to know that Jacob is keeping his pet on a tight leash, but Mathias also can't help but wonder what kind of relationship Jacob really has with Cora at this point, and he does begin to wonder if they've been sleeping together, especially since he notices that both Jacob and Cora's hair is still damp, so Mathias naturally suspects that they may have just showered together. not that he supposes it's really any of his business, but Mathias knows it's good to know things, especially under these kind of circumstances, with what he strongly suspects Cora did back at that sawmill, and with how apparently obedient she is towards Jacob in particular. but Mathias tries not to think too hard about it either, because he can scarcely imagine what it must be like to be with a strange creature like Cora that way, and although he thinks that Cora is far from being unattractive physically, for a white woman at least, Mathias is like Henry in so far as that he tends to get a creepy sort of vibe off Cora whenever he looks at her, and especially when she looks back at him. and right now Mathias is finding it somewhat difficult to avoid fidgeting nervously now that he is being subjected to Cora's steady gaze, as she stares at him quite unapologetically.

then after Mathias takes out his notepad and pen as he readies himself to take notes on whatever Jacob or Cora have to say for themselves, Jacob speaks up to tell Mathias that the main thing he wants to say for the record is that Malachi had a gun held to Henry's head, which Jacob says was done to force him to videotape himself making a false confession to a bunch of crap that Jacob insists he didn't do, because he says really that Malachi was the one who was guilty of all that stuff, and Jacob adds that he is sure Henry will back him up on that. after Jacob pauses for a moment to let Mathias write that down, Jacob also tells Mathias that Malachi intended to use that video as his suicide note, to make it look like he was overwhelmed with shame, and Jacob says that he is sure that Malachi intended to kill him afterward in some way that would appear as a suicide, so that Malachi could take over his casino in order to let the Irish mob run whatever kind of business out of it they wanted, which Jacob says that he was adamantly opposed to, hence he says that's why the mob was willing to aid Malachi in the abduction, torture, and attempted murder of both him and Henry.

after Mathias is done taking his notes on that, Mathias asks Jacob if that's what's on the memory cards, the confession. Jacob says yeah, and he explains that the two memory cards that he, or rather Cora have on her right now, contain both the transcript of the speech that Malachi wrote for him to recite off the teleprompter, along with the video that Jacob says he started making, in order to buy himself and Henry some time, but that he didn't quite get to finish since he says Cora thankfully interrupted them before he'd made it to the end of the script. after Mathias writes that down, he glances at Cora, who just continues to stare quietly at him like she is just waiting for him to make one false move, and Mathias is rather thankful to see that Jacob is continuing to hang on to her arm, although Mathias silently admits to himself that he doesn't really know how much good that's going to do if Cora happens to get really angry for some reason, but Mathias tries not to dwell on that, as he resolves himself to try and do his job here. then Mathias looks at Jacob again and says ok, and then what, to prod Jacob into continuing his statement. Jacob takes a deep breath, then he admits that there may be some footage on the video that people may find hard to explain, and Jacob squeezes Cora's arm a little when he says that, since he means that the camera may have picked up some of the strange activity that ensued when Cora arrived on the scene, although Jacob doesn't say that part out loud yet.

Mathias puts his pen and notepad down on the coffee table in front of him when he hears that, and he sighs and leans back as he prepares himself to hear more details about that before he attempts to write anything else down. but Jacob just goes quiet as he waits for Mathias to say something to that first. but Mathias just asks, and, to indicate he wants Jacob to go on. Jacob looks off into the distance, to look outside through his big back windows that are behind Mathias, and he says that he's not sure how to explain a lot about what happened at that point, and that maybe it would be better for Mathias to just see it for himself and draw his own conclusions. Mathias raises his eyebrows at the prospect of that, and Jacob asks Cora if she will go get him his laptop. Cora nods, and she quickly gets up to go and retrieve it for him. while she is gone, Mathias looks at Jacob intently, wanting to take the opportunity to ask Jacob something about Cora that would be better asked while she is away, but Mathias draws a blank, and is unable to even figure out what he should ask about her at this point. Jacob crosses his arms over his chest while he studies Mathias carefully, gauging his reaction to what he's said so far, and Jacob is pleased to see that Mathias looks at least a little nervous. then Jacob takes the opportunity to tell Mathias that unless he wants to start dealing with the CIA coming to sniff around the res, that Mathias should strongly consider keeping this much of what they are going to share with him to himself.

Mathias sighs and shakes his head as he starts to wish that he hadn't agreed to come here and do this for Walt, since technically Jacob's house is in Walt's jurisdiction, but Mathias had agreed to come here and do this as a favor to Walt, because apparently Walt doesn't like dealing with Cora after something Mathias only vaguely knows about her doing at the sheriff's station to get Walt to release Jacob from jail, right after Mathias had helped Walt arrest Jacob at his casino for a heroin shipment. and Mathias only knows what little he does about what happened at the sheriff's station when Cora was there, because after he found out that Jacob had been released from jail for some reason, Mathias had called Walt on the phone to berate him for that, and to question him about why he would do such a thing, and the only answer that Walt would give him when Mathias asked him why on earth he would release Jacob, was just to say , "Cora", in an aggravated tone of voice. after hearing that, Mathias had immediately stopped pressing Walt for details on the subject, since Mathias remembers all too well the sound Cora had made in Jacob's casino office when Mathias had come to assist Walt in arresting Jacob there, and also since Mathias had already been hearing rumors by then about Cora's supposed ability to melt people's guns, so Mathias had been pretty damn nervous about what she was going to do there himself, before Jacob had thankfully decided to just give himself up. and Mathias is honestly afraid to think about what Cora could have done after the fact to make Walter Longmire release Jacob Nighthorse from jail, when Walt finally had Jacob by the short and curlies, just as Walt had wanted him for years. for once in his life, Mathias finds himself actually feeling glad that he doesn't have enough evidence, or even the jurisdiction, to actually try and arrest anyone here for whatever it was that happened back there at the sawmill on the Crow res the other day, and he already feels that way despite not even seeing the video yet, and he is honestly afraid of what he is going to see there.

Mathias and Jacob just sit quietly for a couple of minutes until Cora returns carrying Jacob's laptop as he requested, and she sits back down beside Jacob on the couch before opening the laptop to power it up, and then she sets it down on the coffee table in front of her while she digs in her pocket to pull out a USB cable along with her cellphone, since the laptop does not have an SD card reader, and Cora knows that she can use her cellphone to transfer the video file from the memory card that came out of Malachi's video camera at the sawmill, since it's the same form factor as the ones that are used in cellphones. after she sets the laptop down on the coffee table, Cora looks at Jacob for further instruction before she does anything else, so Jacob asks her to go ahead and get the video set up to play on the laptop if she can.

Cora nods and does what she's told, and she works on taking her cellphone out of its case, which has a bunch of skull pictures printed all over it, so she can remove the backing of her cellphone to access the memory card slot, and she takes out her own SD card that's already in there and places it down on the coffee table next to the laptop. then she reaches into her pocket to get out the two memory cards that she's been hanging onto for Jacob, and she selects the higher capacity one of the two, which she rightly guesses is the one that came from the camera as opposed to the teleprompter, and she inserts that one into her cellphone. then Cora proceeds to use the laptop to find and select the video file on the memory card that's currently in her cellphone, and she makes a copy of it on the computer's desktop screen. then she unplugs her cellphone from the laptop, and opens the file on the laptop to start it playing in the computer's default video player program, then she pauses the video and pushes the laptop over to Jacob, for him to decide what to do with it next.

Jacob sighs as he looks at the screen with a sad expression to see that the video is paused on him when he was walking back from the video camera to go and sit back down in the chair that Malachi had made him sit in to give that awful speech. then Jacob un-pauses the video and turns the laptop around on the coffee table to let Mathias watch it, and Jacob reaches over to grab Cora's hand, to hold it for his own comfort, as well as for hers, while they have to listen to Jacob's voice on the video saying things that he should never have had to say. when Cora really hears the words that Malachi had forced Jacob to say, being said in Jacob's own voice, she wrinkles her nose in a disapproving expression, and she glares angrily at the back of the laptop as she squeezes Jacob's hand supportively.

Mathias sits with his arms crossed as he watches Jacob's confession video with an expression that conveys mild interest, until the Jacob on the video gets near the end of the script that was obviously prepared for him, especially considering the presence of the teleprompter that was found set up next to the camera at the sawmill when Mathias was there yesterday with Walt, then Mathias uncrosses his arms and sits forward with his head cocked as whatever portions of Cora's hum that the camera's microphone managed to pick up begins to take over the audio, until the audio becomes a completely unintelligible mess of crackling and popping static. then Mathias squints his eyes at the computer screen as he tries to make out some dark shape that seems to be forming a little ways back behind where the Jacob on the video is sitting. but besides the mini-tornados that form along with it, Mathias is unable to make anything else out when bunches of black pixels begin to replace the image of the unidentified object on the video, although everything else in the picture remains unaffected.

the most significant part of the video for Mathias is when he gets to witness the pile of guns that had formed against the ceiling being dragged out to the main door of the building and exploding, although the audio of the explosion was ruined by the other noise on the recording, and the video is not clear enough to prove conclusively that the mass on the ceiling was actually made up of guns. from that point on, the whirlwinds, Jacob, and sometimes Henry are the only things Mathias really gets to see in the video, at least until it gets to the point where the survivors of Malachi's gang ran out of the building, after the whirlwinds had disappeared. everything else involving the strange phenomenon that was in view of the camera's lens was simply not recorded, and only blobs of black pixels remain where those images should be, as if the universe itself had decided to sensor the video, or maybe the surfaces of the objects that were there were just too alien in nature to reflect photons properly. then right after the group of men who managed to survive the encounter run out of the building, the video ends there, because that's when Jacob thought to reach over and hit the button to switch off the camera.

after the video is over, and the computer's screen simply displays the default menu of the video player, Mathias continues to stare at the screen quietly for several moments while he tries to think about what he just saw, and how he could even begin to explain it in words that would make sense on an official police report. then Jacob asks Mathias what he thinks. Mathias takes a deep breath, and after pausing a moment or two longer after letting it out, he simply says that he doesn't know what to say. Jacob asks Mathias what he saw on the video. Mathias asks Jacob if he didn't watch it already for himself. Jacob says no, because he says he didn't feel the need to. Mathias raises his eyebrows and looks at Jacob in surprise at the thought that Jacob wouldn't have wanted to review the video himself before sharing it with anyone else, especially with him, and Mathias tells Jacob his feelings on that. Jacob simply explains that neither he nor Cora are ashamed of anything they did at that sawmill. after seeing that Jacob's expression looks pretty honest, Mathias lets out a small sigh and nods his head in acceptance of that answer. then Jacob asks Mathias what he's going to put in his report.

Mathias thinks about it for a few moments longer, then he tells Jacob that as far as he could see, the closest thing to the truth that he could possibly put down is something like that an unusual weather pattern seemed to spontaneously form, which somehow seemed to destroy all the guns in the room, and which severely distorted the audio and the video on the recording. and Mathias adds that as far as he can tell, all the evidence points to this strange weather phenomenon being what apparently killed three of the men in the room who died there, besides Lane Potter, who Mathias says was shot by an unknown assailant, since they don't have the gun to compare to the bullet that was extracted from Lane's skull. then Mathias reveals that he already spoke with Henry earlier this morning, and Mathias says that even though Henry tried to describe some kind of claw-like things coming out of nowhere to crush the three men to death, which is what Henry said he already told Walt, Mathias says the more logical explanation, in his opinion, is that some heavy debris in the building was affected by the weather phenomenon, which caused the debris to become airborn and then hit the three men who all died from severe, total-body-blunt-force-trauma. Jacob chuckles at that and asks Mathias if that's really a thing. Mathias looks at Jacob with a serious expression, and he says it is now.

Jacob purses his lips and nods, then Mathias tells him that anyway, he is going to need to take custody of the original memory cards, just to keep everything above board as far as the paperwork is concerned. Jacob looks over at Cora while he considers that, then he nods and motions for Cora to go ahead and hand the things over to Mathias. Cora looks at Mathias skeptically for a moment, then she does what Jacob wants and gets the memory card out of her phone, along with the other one she still had in her pocket from the teleprompter, and she reluctantly hands them both over to Mathias. Mathias is careful to avoid touching Cora's hand as much as possible while he accepts the memory cards from her, then he gets out a plastic evidence bag to drop them both in before pocketing the bag, along with his notepad and pen which he quickly gathers up.

then Mathias stands up and says he thinks they're done here, but before he turns to leave, he reaches behind him to pull a folder out from the back of his waistband, which he had hidden under his jacket, and then he hands it over to Jacob. Jacob takes it with a curious expression, and he asks Mathias what is this. Mathias explains these are Jacob's personal documents, which he says he found in an office at the sawmill, and that he thinks Jacob should have these back. Jacob looks confused as he opens the folder to see what it contains, and after rifling through a few of the pages, he is kind of shocked to find out that the folder contains all of his legal documents pertaining to his casino. when Jacob looks at Mathias questioningly for an explanation, Mathias says he suspects that Brian O'Keane, who he mentions they have already figured out was the mobster who was pretending to be Jacob's security guard, stole these from Jacob so that Malachi could use them in his scheme to take over Four Arrows. Jacob scoffs in exasperation as he realizes that Brian must have broken into his safe to take these and bring them to Malachi. Mathias also mentions the fact that the FBI in Boston is well aware of Brian's connection to the Irish mob. Jacob shakes his head, but he thanks Mathias for being willing to return these documents to him. Mathias nods, then he says you two enjoy the rest of your morning, before he abruptly turns to leave, not bothering to wait for Jacob to see him out.

Jacob and Cora stay seated together on the couch while they turn to watch Mathias go, then Jacob lightly tosses his folder of documents down, to let it rest on the coffee table in front of him for the moment, which he feels grateful for having returned to him, although he is still pretty upset by how they were stolen from him, and Jacob sighs wearily. then Jacob looks at Cora, and Cora moves closer to him to wrap her arms around him and pull him in for a hug. Jacob easily allows this, feeling grateful for her support, and he hugs Cora back as a few tears of relief well up in his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> That's all for now. Please leave comments, and let me know if there is any interest in continuing this story, and maybe I will see what else I can come up with. Thanks for reading.


End file.
